It is not every other day a virtual best friend whom I consider very close to my heart asks me to do something for her. So when Anu asked me to write a guest post for her, how could I ever refuse? I made these melt in the mouth Maida Cake or Maida Burfi which happens to be a hot favorite of both me and my brother and this burfi is something that is made every year along with Gulab Jamoon by my mother at home during Diwali.
If you are a beginner in cooking and if you wish to stun your family and friends by making a sweet for them, look no further as this burfi is a perfect recipe for you as most of the cooking is done off the stove. It takes very few ingredients, less time and it requires no heavy duty stirring. Though one string consistency of the sugar syrup is required and even if you miss a step, you can always save this burfi without having to dump this in bin unlike other burfi recipes.
Maida Burfi (Cake) Recipe
Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 20 mins | Makes: 20 Squares
Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Desserts
Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Desserts
Ingredients:
- Maida / All purpose flour – 1-1/2 cups
- Ghee / Vegetable shortening – ½ cup
- Sugar – 2 cups
- Water – 1/2 cup
- Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
- Apple green food color – 2-3 pinches
Instructions:
- Sieve the flour first. Grease a plate with ghee and keep it ready.
- Heat the ghee or shortening in a pan and once it melts add the flour. Roast for 3-4 mins until the raw smell disappears over low flame.
- Place both sugar and water in a pan and let it cook until the sugar dissolves. Start cooking further over medium flame until the syrup forms a one-string consistency.
- Add vanilla essence and food color to the roasted flour.
- Pour the sugar syrup over the roasted flour and keep stirring briskly. No need to keep the pan with the flour on the stove. You can keep it on the counter and mix. A wooden spatula will be of great help to do this.
- You will see that hot sugar syrup starts melting the ghee in the roasted flour and the entire mixture becoming loose. Stir briskly with the spatula in a circular motion.
- It will take only about 2 minutes when you can see that the mixture coming together in a big mass.
- Immediately, pour this mixture into the readily kept greased plate and tap it gently on the counter until it is leveled. You can also use a butter paper to level the top evenly.
- While it is still warm using a knife draw lines according to the shape you prefer.
- Wait until it cools considerably and once again using the knife you can cut them into desired shape perfectly.
- Store in an airtight container and enjoy.
Notes:
- The flour should get roasted well but make sure it done over low flame and take care not to burn it and change color.
- If in case while you are in Step – 7 you miss the time, the entire content will become crumbly once again. No need to fear, just keep it on the stove and cook over low flame for 2-3 mins, once again, the flour will loosen, and you can pour it into the plate.
- Traditionally no nuts are used in this recipe but if you want, you can use coarsely powdered cashew and almonds.
- You can skip ghee and do the entire burfi with vegetable shortening / vanaspati. You will not see any difference in taste or flavor.
- You can use any food color according to your wish.
- Reduce the flour by 1/4 cup and replace it with cocoa powder to get a chocolate maida burfi. However, do not add the cocoa powder while roasting flour but add it on step-4.
