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Coconut Badam Burfi
makes about 20-25 burfis
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut or frozen, thawed
  • 1/4 cup almonds blanched
  • 1/2 cup cane sugar (brown sugar)
  • 1-1/2 tsp white poppy seeds khus khus / gasa gase
  • 2-3 tbsp water for grinding
  • butter / ghee / neutral fat for smearing
Instructions
  1. Soak poppy seeds in hot water until almonds are blanched.
  2. To blanch almonds, drop almonds in boiling water and keep aside. Drain and rinse under cold water after 5 mins. Press the almonds one by one and squeeze the skin lightly to pop them out.
  3. Drain poppy seeds and empty into the grinder/mixer jar first, followed by grated coconut, blanched almonds and a couple of tablespoons of water just enough for grinding. Grind to a smooth paste.
  4. Smear in a little butter or ghee onto a flat plate or baking sheet and keep aside.
  5. Add sugar and coconut-almond paste to a heavy bottom pan. Stir to mix well over low-medium heat and proceed to stir intermittently until the mixture bubbles. Stir continuously from here onward to prevent the mixture form sticking to the pan or getting burnt, until it begins to leave the sides of the pan, lumping up as one mass, to the consistency of chapathi dough. If you tilt the pan, the mass should move from side to side and should not stick much to the ladle when you tap on it.
  6. Reduce heat to low and continue stirring for a few more minutes until  the residue sticking to the sides of the pan starts to look opaque and dry, which means the consistency is nearing almost right for solidifying.
  7. Remove onto the greased plate / sheet. Working the mix like a dough with greased hands, either pat it or roll it flat  into a neat square with a greased rolling-pin to 1/4 inch thickness. Smooth out the surface if needed.
  8. After 10-15 mins, when it has cooled partially, cut into 1 inch diamonds or squares with a knife. Once completely cooled, about an hour or so, separate out the burfis with a flat knife or a flat spatula and store in an airtight jar.
Notes

If using frozen grated coconut, thaw on the counter for 30 mins

If grating a coconut, make sure to grate leaving a layer close to the shell, to avoid the brown specks off the shell getting scraped.

Use the coconut water instead of water for grinding. If after pouring onto the sheet / plate, you feel that the consistency has not been reached, take it back into the pan and stir again until the right consistency is reached.

Pale brown color of the burfi is due to the cane sugar.

Cashews can most certainly be substituted for almonds and/or added, no soaking or blanching needed.

Poppy seeds are hard to grind due to their tiny size. They grind well when soaked.

Burfi stores well up to two weeks when stored in a dry airtight container.