Inspired by the viral Dubai chocolate, these pistachio burfi truffles combine the crispy kataifi pastry with mawa, pistachio cream, cardamom and saffron!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 60 minutes
  • Cook time: Not specified
  • Total time: 360 minutes
  • Yield: 20
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Indian Fusion

Ingredients

  • 100 grams kataifi pastry (shredded, around 2 cups)
  • 1 tablespoon butter (I used salted butter)
  • 225 grams mawa (crumbled, also known as khoya, (approx.1 cup))
  • 140 grams pistachio paste (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons, this was sweetened paste)
  • 1 & ½ tablespoons tahini
  • 1 & ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
  • pinch salt
  • generous pinch saffron strands (crushed)
  • 10 oz dark chocolate melting wafers (I used Ghirardelli melting wafers)

Method

  1. Chop the kataifi pastry into fine strands using a knife. Heat a tablespoon of butter in a pan and once it melts. add the shredded pastry to it and toast until it becomes golden brown in color. Stir continuously while roasting to make sure it roasts evenly. Remove it from the pan and transfer to a bowl.
  2. To the same pan, now add crumbled mawa. Stir with a spatula and roast until mawa turns golden brown in color. Remove the pan from heat.
  3. Add roasted mawa to the bowl with roasted kataifi pastry and also add pistachio paste, tahini, cardamom powder, pinch of salt and saffron strands. Mix with a spatula until everything is well combined. The mixture will be a little wet.
  4. There are two ways to make these truffles. The simple way is to roll the mixture into small balls, around 20 grams each. Then chill the balls in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Once chilled, melt some chocolate melting wafers. I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers (these don't need to be tempered), melted them using my microwave in 15 seconds increments and then dipped the chilled balls into the melted chocolate to make your truffles.
  5. To make them look a little more fancier, you can use a candy mold. First pour melted chocolate into each cavity and then flip the mold over to remove excess chocolate. Chill the mold for 30 minutes. Then fill each cavity with the prepared mixture and chill again for 1 hour. Then cover the top with more chocolate, smoothen out the top and chill for 3 to 4 hours until the truffles are completely set. Remove from mold and enjoy!

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.