Thursday 2 February 2017

7 CUPS BARFI

Are you game for a race (nah, not the rat kind please!) to brace up for the day?
Ready, steady, 1.2..3…4….go for this miniathon that’s sweetly different…just 7 laps long! Chase those cups… all same size, 7 of them. 1 of rava, 2 of sugar, 3 of ….. Oomph! Off you zoomed to the finish line in no time!! Tip yourself to a delicious dessert you duly deserve!
A dessert that tempts you to devour, yet sweet signals sent from it simply say “Taste me… just a bite and I shall see you savour me bits by bit by wee bit”. 7 ingredients coming together to submerge in a syrup prepared “with no strings (consistencies) attached” and lo! watch those diamonds emerge flat on a plate, glittering. Are u scaling up to seventh heaven all ready!  

Dish Type:  South Indian Dessert 
Time required:  30 min approx.
Yield:  16 pcs (approx.)
Ingredients
Chiroti Rava                        1 cup (Semolina fine quality)
Sugar                                  3 cups (2.5 cups is enough if you don't want it too sweet)
Ghee                                   1 cup
Milk                                    1 cup
Raw Coconut                      1 cup (grated)
Cardamom                          2 pcs. (powdered)
Essence                               very few drops (pineapple / vanilla flavour)

Directions
Mix all the ingredients except milk in a kadai. Now add milk, mix again and let it stand for about 10 mins.
Before you begin boiling, keep a clean, flat plate or tray ready. Grease it by smearing ghee uniformly all over including the sides.
Now keep the kadai for boiling on low flame. Keep stirring the contents at intervals. Continue stirring till it starts bubbling. Ghee will start oozing out and flowing on the sides of the kadai. Keep mixing….oh can’t mix any more? Well, that’s a good sign to transfer contents from pan to plate!
Pour the contents in the kadai on to the greased plate. Spread the mixture evenly on the plate. Slowly and gently flatten and smoothen the top surface with a spatula. After a minute or two, using a sharp knife, mark lines to divide them. Mark either diagonally into diamonds or straight to from squares or rectangles. When it is warm, run the knife deep over the marked lines to slit them to pieces. Let it stand uncovered till it reaches room temperature (takes about an hour). Remove the pieces carefully and stack them on a plate. 7 cups barfi is now ready. Serve them rightaway.
Store them in an air tight container. Store in fridge if needed for later use.

Tete a tete
While stirring, every time make sure spatula reaches right down to the bottom of the kadai and all round the sides for uniform frying.
Texture of the mixture is perfect when it appears smooth and shiny sans any bubbles.
Adding cashewnuts is optional. If used, it can be powdered and added towards the end while frying.
Cup of any size can be used. No. of pieces vary accordingly. I used cup size that holds 100 gms and treated my family to atleast 16 diamonds!
According to my friend Smt. Padmini Prasanna, using coconut milk (1 cup) instead of just raw grated coconut enhances the taste and flavour of barfi.
While there are few other ways and options for making 7 cups barfi, I found this way to be the easiest.
Recipe contributed by octagenarian Smt. Meena Lakshminarayana, an expert cook and aunt in law of my dear friend Arati Rangaswamy

Recipes viewed here are a part of  "Mangala's Potluck" section in this blog 

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