Rava burfi is a sweet from Indian cuisine made with semolina, sugar, ghee, milk and coconut. This delicious sweet has a slight crunch like the South Indian Mysore Pak.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 1 minutes
  • Cook time: 38 minutes
  • Total time: 39 minutes
  • Yield: 20 · 20 burfi
  • Category: Dessert / Sweet
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rava (or semolina or suji (Bombay rava))
  • 1 cup coconut (grated (fresh, frozen or desiccated) (not copra))
  • ½ cup besan (or maida (plain flour))
  • 2 cups sugar ((prefer organic sugar))
  • 1 cup milk (at room temperature)
  • ¾ cup ghee (+ 2 tbsps or clarified butter)
  • ½ to ¾ tsp cardamom powder (or elaichi or rose water)
  • 2 tbsp pistachios (sliced or almonds (optional))

Method

Preparation

  1. Grease a tray and set side.
  2. Pour ¼ cup ghee to a heavy bottom pan and heat it on a medium flame.
  3. Add rava and saute for 2 mins until it blends well with ghee.
  4. Then add besan and roast them together until a nice aroma comes out. Keep stirring constantly to prevent burning. Make sure the besan doesn’t get discoloured.

How to Make Rava Burfi

  1. Add coconut, sugar and milk. Regulate the flame to low for a while and mix up everything to prevent lumps.
  2. Begin to cook on a medium heat stirring often. The mixture turns gooey while the sugar melts and begins to bubble up.
  3. When the mixture thickens slightly add ¼ cup of ghee and cardamom powder. Stir well until the ghee is absorbed completely.
  4. Add another ¼ cup of ghee. Stir well until absorbed.
  5. Cook on a low to medium heat until the mixture thickens completely and turns to a halwa consistency. The mixture begins to leave the pan slightly. At this stage add 2 tbsps. Ghee and stir well until it is absorbed.

Check the consistency

  1. The burfi mixture will soon begin to leave the pan and turn to a single mass.
  2. Be quick and transfer this to the greased tray. Level it well with a spatula. Sprinkle some sliced nuts on top and press down gently with a greased spoon.
  3. Allow to cool down. When the burfi is still hot but not very hot, cut them to pieces.
  4. Cool them completely and store in an air tight jar.
  5. Rava burfi keeps good for 7 to 10 days at room temperature and for over a month if refrigerated.

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.