Vegan kesar barfi

Happy Diwali and Happy New Year! It has been a very busy weekend for me. Saturday night was my final year dinner, and it was a really good night - and a bit emotional too! I can't believe I'm almost at the end of my 6 years at medical school. So many good memories :) Other than that, I also celebrated my sister's birthday yesterday because I'm away in Somerset during the week on her actual birthday. Which of course means I baked a cake for her (recipe coming soon). And as if that wasn't enough, I ambitiously decided to make 3 different indian sweets for Diwali! I don't make things easy for myself do I? So here is the first of the three sweets - vegan kesar (saffron) barfi!

Date fig barfi (left), almond halwa (middle), kesar barfi (right)
Makes 12-16 squares (depending how big you cut them)

Ingredients

3/4 cup almonds soaked overnight
1/2 cup fine semolina flour

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

Pinch of cardamom powder

1/2-1 tsp saffron strands (to taste)

Pinch of salt

Method

1. Line a small dish with grease proof paper (I used a small pie dish).
2. Soak the almonds overnight. Peel and pulse into coarse crumbs (peel them by soaking in boiling water for 2 minutes, then press them and the almonds should pop out of their skin).
3. In a pan, dry roast the semolina on low-medium heat for 6-8 minute or until it's starts changing colour and in fragrant. Add the ground almonds and oil and mix well to form crumbs.
4. In another pan, mix the sugar, water, cardamom powder, saffron strands and salt. Bring to the boil on a low-medium heat until 1 string consistency is achieved (a few minutes). Add it to the semolina mixture and mix well until combined while on the heat.
5. Take off heat after a few seconds and pour into the prepared tray. Even it out and cut into squares before it hardens. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before breaking into pieces. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.

Original recipe: Kesar barfi

2 more recipes to come!