Groundnut and Dry fruit Burfi/ Peanut and Dry fruit Barfi

Some of my friends were coming home for dinner and I wanted to make something quick and easy to serve as dessert. I decided to go for a barfi (which is a confectionery made primarily in the Indian subcontinent). The major advantage is that it can be made in large batches and freezes brilliantly for later storage. This time groundnuts caught my attention since I was going for something inspired by the traditional ‘chikki’. I was extremely pleased by how this barfi turned out.
Recipe for Groundnut and Dry fruit Burfi/ Peanut and Dry fruit Barfi

Makes : 22-25 pieces
Ingredients :

• 300 gms groundnuts, roasted and finely crushed
• 200 gms sugar
• 10 saffron threads
• 1.2 cups water
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1/2 cup dry fruits (I put a mixture of cashews, walnuts, almonds and raisins)

• Roast the peanuts on a medium flame, stirring constantly for around 10-15 mins and switch off the flame. Once the peanuts cool down, remove and discard the skin. Crush the peanuts into fine powder using a mixer.
• Crush all the mentioned dry fruits into a fine powder using the mixer and keep aside.
• Now in a flat pan, heat the sugar and water till the sugar completely dissolves. Keep the flame low and stir continuously till no sugar granules are observed. At this stage, check the string consistency of the liquid. You want a two string consistency.
• Add saffron threads and stir the liquid for around one minute.
• Now add the finely crushed peanuts to this syrup and mix well for two minutes. Keep the flame low.
• Switch off the flame and add the ghee followed by the powdered dry fruits. Stir well to make a smooth mixture.
• Grease a flat tray with ghee on the base, the side, and the rims. Spread the barfi mixture evenly on the greased tray and press down to form an even and compact layer. Let it cool and get firm for 6 hours. Once firm, cut it into small diamond pieces using a knife and scoop it out from the tray using a spatula.

Tips :

• Do not let the peanuts burn. The dessert will carry a bitter, sooty taste. Keep the flame at medium and stir the peanuts often.
• I used brown sugar for making this barfi. If you use white sugar, reduce the quantity of sugar a bit since the latter is sweeter.
• If you add more raisins, reduce the amount of sugar.
• The size of the tray is critical in order to get a barfi of decent depth. Choose a smaller sized tray than the one shown in the picture for the quantity of peanuts mentioned.
• If the barfi crumbles after 6 hours while cutting, do not worry. Just apply some ghee on your palms and roll the barfi mixture into round shape and convert them to laddoos. They taste equally delicious.