Besan Barfi: Spiced & Nutty Chickpea Fudge

Besan Barfi is chickpea fudge that tastes scrumptiously yummy thanks to the spice and the nuts. This recipe uses less sugar so you won’t feel guilty when you eat it more than a piece.

square pieces of Besan Barfi - the Pakistani chickpea fudge

Besan Barfi

Besan Barfi, also called Besan Ki Barfi, is one of the Methai/ mithai (sweet treats) from the Indian subcontinent. This nutty, sweet treat reminds you of fudge but with a spice aroma from cardamom.

The first time I tried chickpea fudge, which we bought from an Asian sweet shop, I was a bit disappointed. Though I love its texture and richness, I found it too sweet. 

Squares of Besan Barfi - the Pakistani chickpea fudge

So, if you’re like me and love sweets with the right amount of sweetness—not overly sweet—you must try this Besan Barfi. If you need more ideas on finishing the gram flour you buy, you can try Besan Ladoos. They’re another mithai made of gram flour. 

And if you like fudge, you can try my pumpkin fudge, too. It’s scrumptious.

Simple Ingredients For Besan Barfi

Apart from the gram flour/ chickpea flour, you will need butter, milk powder, cardamom powder, sugar, water and nuts.

I didn’t realize for a long time that different brands of chickpea flour affect the quality of your cooking. So don’t be naive like I was. Choose a good-quality besan flour that you like.

The obvious difference I see is that the flour’s texture is finer. And the flour doesn’t go off quickly once you open the packaging. 

Please remember that gram flour becomes bitter after some time. So make sure you use the flour from the freshly opened packet.

Most recipes call for unsalted butter. However, I use salted butter here because some salt enhances the flavor of our sweets and desserts. However, if you don’t like the idea or prefer your Besan Barfi to taste simply sweet, you can use unsalted butter.

Often, you don’t want to get some extra ingredients for something that you hardly cook. This goes for cardamom powder. In honesty, I don’t buy cardamom powder. I make it. Because I always have cardamom pods anyway. So, I take the seeds of some pods, put them in my spice grinder, and make cardamom powder. If you don’t have a grinder, you can always grind the seeds using a pestle and mortar. 

If you want to grind just enough cardamom seeds for this recipe, you will only need the seeds from 4-5 cardamom pods.

When it comes to nuts, you can go as nuts as you want. Choose whichever nuts you love. The traditional ones are almonds or pistachios. But do try hazelnuts, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, or walnuts. They all make lovely Besan Barfi. My favorite ones are Brazil nuts. And to make your chickpea fudge even nuttier, pan-roast your nuts before using. They make the barfi even way better.

Easy Way To Make Chickpea Fudge

Most Besan Ki Barfi recipes use the original method of roasting the flour with butter. 

However, I find this method is tiring for my arm. And I’m too lazy to labor myself to make barfi when I can shortcut the way. 

So, I melt the butter in a microwave and pan-roast the besan flour—well, sort of. I add the cardamom powder to the flour to roast it together. 

This way, it’s easy for me to stir. Also, I find the flour’s flavor better, as the nutty roast smell from the chickpea flour is more obvious. And, of course, more delicious. 

It takes me about 20 minutes to pan-roast the flour and cardamom powder. Remember to constantly stir the flour to prevent it from cooking or burning unevenly. 

When the flour is nicely roasted, turn the heat off and remove the flour from the cooker/ stove. Pour the melted butter into the gram flour and mix it thoroughly. Add the milk powder and chopped nuts, respectively, and mix well between additions.

Halfway through roasting the flour, make the sugar syrup by boiling the sugar and water for about 5-6 until the sugar dissolves and reaches one thread consistency. 

Note that one-thread consistency is when the syrup makes one single thread between your index finger and thumb pulled apart. 

Then, pour the syrup into the besan barfi mixture and quickly stir. Try to mix well and thoroughly as fast as you can.

Spoon the mixture into an oblong tray (10” x 7”) and spread it with a spatula. Scatter the nuts over the fudge and lightly press them with the back of the spoon. 

Leave the fudge slightly set for about 10 minutes before you cut it into small squares. 

Pakistani Besan ki Barfi - spiced fudge made of chickpea flour

More Indian and Pakistani Sweet Recipes

Don’t forget to check my other recipes that you may love.

small squares of Besan Barfi - the sweet chickpea fudge
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4.50 from 2 votes

Besan Barfi: Spiced & Nutty Chickpea Fudge

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Author: Devy Dar
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Sweets & Desserts
Cuisine: Pakistani
Servings: 24 squares

Equipment

  • Cooking pan
  • Wooden spoon

Ingredients

  • 2 cups gram flour/ besan flour/ chickpea flour.
  • 1 cup salted butter melted.
  • ½ cup milk powder.
  • ½ teaspoon cardamom powder see the note.
  • ¾ cup sugar.
  • cup water.
  • cup chopped nuts see the note.

Instructions

  • Grease an oblong tray 7”x10” and line with greaseproof paper. Set aside.
  • Place the gram flour and cardamom powder in a large cooking pan. Cook it at medium-high heat as you keep stirring every now and again to prevent the flour from burning. It takes me about 20 minutes for the gram flour to be nicely roasted with a light golden colour. 
  • Then turn the heat off and add in the melted butter. Mix well.
  • Add the milk powder to the besan mixture and stir until all is blended.
  • Stir in the chopped nut in the mixture.
  • Make the sugar syrup by heating the sugar and water in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Once it boils, let it cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the syrup becomes one-thread consistency. It takes me about 6-7 minutes to make the syrup at low heat.
  • To check this, spoon a little syrup with a wooden spoon and carefully touch the syrup from the spoon with your index finger. Then touch the index finger with your thumb. When you pull the fingers apart there should be a single thread formed. If you want to be precise, you can use a food thermometer when you start boiling the syrup. The one-thread temperature is usually just above 100º C/ 212º F but below 110ºC/ 230ºF.  
  • Pour the syrup into the besan barfi mixture and quickly stir and mix well. Here, we have to work quickly otherwise the besan won’t be evenly sweet. 
  • Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, spread and press gently using a spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle and scatter the chopped nuts on top of the barfi. Again, press lightly so the nuts stick nicely.
  • Leave it to rest for about 10 minutes before you cut the barfi. But don’t leave it too long or it’ll be harder to cut as the barfi becomes firmer.  

Notes

  • Choose the full-fat milk powder, please. I tried semi-skimmed, it didn’t turn out nice. 
  • I always use salted butter as a little salt will enhance the flavour of my sweets. But if you prefer using unsalted butter, you’re more than welcome to swap.
  • If you have cardamom seeds and not the powder, just open 4-5 cardamom pods and take the seeds out. Pound and grind the seeds into powder. It should be more than enough for this recipe. 
  • When it comes to nuts, you can go for any nuts you like. Pistachio, almonds, and cashew are most common. But nuts like pecan, Brazil nuts or walnuts can be the options. So choose according to your taste.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 86mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 8g

Disclaimer

Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.

Author: Devy Dar

Title: Food Writer, Recipe Developer, and Digital Content Creator.

Bio:

Devy Dar founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appetit, and more. 

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