Cooking with Kent and Vidushi: My Mom’s Kaju Barfi

Dearest fine readers of Mirror,

We are back and better than ever for the third installment of Cooking with Kent and Vidushi! This week, Vidushi is sharing a recipe very close to her heart: her mom’s version of kaju barfi, a cashew-flavored, fudge-like Indian dessert. 

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Kaju barfi (pronounced kaj-oo barf-ee) is sweet, soft and aromatic. I have vivid childhood memories of peering up at my mom as she combined the ingredients in a large pot over the stove, filling our home with the warm scent of cardamom. My mom would then press the mixture onto a sheet pan, and my small fingertips would burn as I snagged bits of the steaming hot, slowly-forming barfi and shoved them into my mouth.

I was a kaju barfi kid. I ate kaju barfi morning, noon and night, and I made sure that everyone was aware of my habits. When my grandfather would come to visit, he would bring me kaju barfi from his local Indian store. When my aunts would come back from a trip from India, they would bring me kaju barfi. When my family would go to Indian restaurants, I would order kaju barfi. Are you seeing a pattern here? I recently found out that my grandfather's nickname for me when I was a toddler was kaju barfi. My hankering for cashews and cardamom was (and is) never-ending. It was practically my brand as child. My blood is probably seventy percent cashew paste. 

This recipe is extra special, because it is coming straight from the woman who molded my love for kaju barfi: my mom. Her recipe, in my completely unbiased opinion, is perfect. Look no further, this is the final word on kaju barfi.

Kaju barfi is traditionally shaped into delicate diamond shapes and is sometimes adorned with a thin layer of edible silver foil. While we’re skipping the silver decoration this time, we are maintaining the classic diamond shape. If, however, your pantry staples include edible silver foil, I encourage you to add some on top. I am thrilled to share my passion for kaju barfi with you all!

Ingredients:

2 cups cashew flour

1 cup granulated sugar

Tablespoon of ghee (clarified butter) or alternatively, unsalted butter

1/2 cup of milk

Half a teaspoon of cardamom powder

Steps:

1. Warm a large, heavy steel-bottomed pan over very low heat.
2. Add the tablespoon of ghee or butter and let it melt. 
3. Add the 2 cups of cashew flour to the melted ghee and stir well to incorporate the ghee.
4. Continuously stir the cashew and ghee mixture for five minutes, to prevent it from burning. The cashew flour should not turn brown.
5. Add the 1 cup of sugar to the mix. Stir for three minutes.
6. Gently add the 1/2 cup of milk. 
7. Continuously and vigorously stir the mixture for ten minutes or until the mixture no longer sticks to the sides of the pan. Keep the heat at the lowest setting. Using a large whisk can be helpful at this stage. 
8. Turn off the heat and let the mixture rest for five minutes. 
9. Add the ½ teaspoon of cardamom powder and incorporate it well into the mixture. 
10. Cover a sheet pan or large cutting board with parchment paper. 
11. Carefully spoon the cashew mix onto the parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of the mixture. Use a rolling pin to gently roll out the mixture until it is ½ an inch thick. 
12. Remove the top layer of parchment paper and let the mixture set for 10 minutes.
13. Cut into diamond shapes.

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