coconut burfi

My dad has a sweet tooth that I did not inherit. Right after every meal, to this day, after getting up from the table and putting leftovers away and such, he likes a bite of something sweet. Just a bite or two, that's it. He has always had this habit. And, my mom always had sweets at home, mostly home-made, and sometimes store-bought.

Just about every month my mom celebrates at least 3 festivals. She makes wonderful traditional Indian sweets to celebrate each festival - like Poorna Kozhakattai for Ganesha Chathurthi, Suhiyan and Poli for Saraswathi Pooja/Vijaya Dasami and so on.

This is my 101st post, and in all the 100 so far, I realize I have not posted a dessert or sweet recipe:)

I don't make sweets and desserts often. But, my wee one seems to be fixated on chocolates, cookies and such these days. Rather than giving her store-bought corn-syrup concoctions, I decided to start making sweets at home.

Among the many Indian sweets I watched and learnt to make from my mom, the easiest to me seemed like this coconut burfi. Easy to remember because the proportions are 1:1:1 of sugar:water:grated-coconut, and the sugar syrup for this is a fairly standard and simple one. Without further ado, here is an easy and quick recipe for coconut burfi.


Ingredients:
1 cup fresh or dry grated coconut
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1-2 green cardamom pods (optional, for flavor)
¼ cup chopped cashew nuts and golden raisins combined (optional)
2 Tbsp butter or ghee (as needed, for greasing)

Preparation

grease a plate well with the butter or ghee and keep handy

add the sugar & water in a saucepan and heat it gradually over medium low; when water starts to boil stir in crushed cardamom, and watch closely to form a sugar syrup that is fairly thick, viscous like oil

it is mesmerizing to watch the sugar syrup, just when water starts to boil, the bubbles rise up in a column, from bottom of the pan to the surface, and this starts getting vigorous, and finally, the top surface is full of seething bubbles... it is beautiful to watch:)

off heat, add the grated coconut (and cashews/raisins, if using) into the thick sugar syrup, stir well

pour on to the greased plate and allow to set a little for a few minutes

cut into diamond or square shaped pieces, as small or large as you prefer, and leave it to cool completely

coconut burfi usually lasts for a month or more if stored in air tight container