10 servings
30 minutes
1 hour
Tricky
This recipe for milk barfi is just so delicious. Unlike traditional Fiji milk barfi (which is mostly comprised of powdered milk), this one is made out of powdered and liquid milk dough. This dough is then grated to give it a beautiful texture when eaten.
Milk Barfi is often made during festivities such as Diwali and other Hindu festivals as well as during Eid. It is also a popular choice for birthday celebrations or as a snack.
The trickiest aspect of the recipe would be its sugar syrup. If it isn’t done properly, the entire recipe may fail. So be sure to test the syrup’s consistency in a small portion of the mixture.
Share this recipe with friends and family because it is sure to please (share buttons are at the end of the recipe). P.S. Because these milk barfis are super sweet, please moderate your daily intake.
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Ingredients – Dough
2 Cups Powdered Milk
½ Cup Milk
2 Tbsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)
1 Tbsp Cardamom (Elaichi)
1 Tsp Nutmeg (Jaifar)
1 Tsp Vanilla (or Vanilla Essence)
Food Colouring – Optional
Hundreds & Thousands (Optional)
Directions
- Mix together the powdered milk, elaichi, jaifar in a bowl. Set aside
- Pour the milk into a small bowl. In the milk, add the vanilla essence and food colouring. Then add this to the dry ingredients (gradually in small amounts so the mixture does not get gooey)
- Then sift the mixture through a fine sieve (to break clumps and leave some textured pieces in the mixture)
- Grab a medium flat tray and grease the interior with ghee
- Next, make the syrup by boiling the sugar and water with vanilla essence and ghee to a sticky consistency (when dripped into water, the syrup will move and not dissolve)
- Once it is ready, add the syrup to the mixture and combine. Then place it into the ghee – greased tray with wet hands. Be very quick during this process as the sugar syrup will harden the cooler it gets (wet fingers constantly to avoid burning)*
- Spread the mixture evenly on the tray by patting down with the palms of your hands or by using a silicone spatula
- Sprinkle Hundreds & Thousands and press down lightly to set them to the surface of the barfi
- Let it cool for a few minutes then cut into squares with a wet knife and let it set for a few hours
- Remove the squares and place into an airtight container. Stays fresh for a week. Refrigerate if the weather is hot or humid
*Please note that you may not need to use all the sugar syrup. Adjust accordingly – you may need to add only the required amount to make sure the mixture will set.
hi My syrup always does not cook right way. Please Help
Hi Ashni, I have faced this problem many times. I found that different stoves can have different cooking times for the syrup. Be patient with the cooking and check it every 5 minutes for consistency. Good luck!
Hello
Your recipe calls for 2 cups of powdered milk with half a cup of milk added to it. This made the dough very liquidy and I wasnt able to grate as the recipe suggests.
Also if you could please put a note right next to the syrup recipe stating that the amount needs to be adjusted would be helpful. This is because the note that you have made can be easily missed by people.
Thank you
Kind regards
This is a great recipe, thank you for taking the time to write the article.
This receipe is not correct.
Please do not follow this receipe.
I made and exactly followed the receipe and it was like a soup. Such liars.
But the question remains… was it a tasty soup? Haha, I think your issue may have been the sugar syrup consistency, it needs to be at two threads and is a tricky process. Trial and error makes a good sweet maker. Like a baker’s bread, it cannot be perfect on the first try. Give it another try!!
Rose lack vocabulary! SAD!!
Vinaka Shivangni.
Hi I am wondering if the syrup is too much for 2 cups of milk
Hi Sarojini, the sugar syrup was made on a ratio to achieve the right consistency. As the recipe suggests, don’t put all the syrup at once, adjust and add as much as needed 🙂
what temperature do you set the oven to cook it?
Hi! This recipe does not require the use of ovens, you can make this using the stove top.
I’ve only tried making barfi with 3 failed attempts..😂
But after following this recipe , it came out perfect. 😁
Thank you very much🤗
Lisa Singh
Hi Lisa! I am glad that the recipe worked for you. Making barfi can be really tricky because of the sugar syrup and I am glad you kept trying 🙂 That’s what cooking is all about.
Blessed to have a site where I go to for our take on Indian food. I enjoy cooking all cuisines and have been thinking of the history of Indian cuisine in Fiji. Love the fusion. Would love to be able to contribute meat recipes with fennel seeds. And all those years, I thought the three sisters; fenugreek, mustard and cumin was all I had to work with.
Hi Bianca, great to hear that you find our website so useful. I would be interested to know about your meat and fennel seed recipes, please share on our Facebook page – That Fiji Taste. It will give us a chance to share and discuss your recipes and ideas in an open forum with Fiji food lovers!
Your recipe calls for 1tsp of vanilla to add to the sugar and water mixture. It also ask’s for vanilla in the liquid milk mixture that is added to the powdered milk. A little confusing as you only list the vanilla once in your ingredients. I am originally from Fiji living in Canada and was looking forward to this recipe which didn’t turn out the way I remember barfi to be unfortunately. Not easy to grate dough, turned out a bit hard. Can you do this recipe without grating the dough?
Hi Veena, thank you for giving the recipe a try. My apologies, I did in fact forget to add the extra teaspoon of vanilla essence into the recipe list for the milk dough and have changed it. Unfortunately, this isn’t a recipe you can make without making a dough. It is a different take on the classic barfi as I have mentioned above. I will be adding the normal powdered milk barfi recipe soon so join our Facebook page to see the new recipe when it is added to the website.
Hi. Just made this recipe. Very nice. Reminded me of fiji. Just a tweak though. There was a lot of syrup left over. Possible for another batch. Maybe next time I will make with 1 cup of sugar 🙂 thank you
Hi Shoma,
Thats a great tip, it is true there is extra syrup left over. I have amended the recipe to make it more accurate. Thank you!