Date and Cashew Nut Barfi/Fudge

EVENT: A- Z CHALLENGE

THEME : A DISH BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER D

What is the A- Z Challenge? Well, we’re a Facebook group and every alternate month the participants make a dish with the  relevant letter. The group was started in May 2018 by Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan.  For November we have to post a recipe with the letter D. The star ingredient for the dish should begin with D. I made Dalithoi to go with my  Vastad Roti when I was doing the A- Z Indian Flatbreads for another group and I was feeling great that I’ve got my D recipe ready. Then a member asked about whether the dish name can begin with the specified letter and I re checked with Vidya. Unfortunately for now its the ingredient that has to begin with the letter and not the dish. So dalithoi is still waiting patiently to be posted.

Now with Diwali literally just a few days away, I panicked that I had not made any sweets to give if by chance someone came to my house around Diwali. So with D  ringing in my head and with a huge huge box of dates sitting in some corner of the fridge, I thought lets bring that iron rich dried fruit out and put it to good use. Ideally would have loved to make a drumstick curry but right now the drumsticks available in the market seem as though they are on a diet. They literally are like thin sticks. To enjoy drumsticks, they should have some pulp in them.

My recipe for this challenge is a Date and Cashew Nut barfi (fudge), and before I made it, I came across Freda’s recipe for kaju katli where the syrup is not made to make the kaju barfi. She added powdered sugar to the cashew nut powder and it worked like a charm. Freda thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Please check it out here.I reduced the amount of sugar used as the dates are naturally sweet. This recipe is actually so so so so easy to make. Go on make it if you still haven’t made a sweet or mithai for Diwali.

It seems I may have to make some again as the barfi is fast disappearing and come Monday will have nothing left, just in case someone decides to pop in.

So here’s the simple and yet full of nuts and dry fruit recipe.

DATE AND CASHEW NUT BARFI

Makes about 20 pieces

For the Date filling:

18-20 dates (about 200g), remove the seeds

15-20 almonds, lightly roasted and roughly chopped

15-20 pistachios lightly roasted and roughly chopped

¼ cup cashew nut powder

2 tbsp rose water

½ tsp cardamom powder

½ tsp ginger powder

1 tsp ghee or unsalted butter

 

For the Cashew Nut Barfi:

1 cup cashew nut pieces

⅓ cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp milk

¼ tsp cardamom powder

1 tsp ghee or unsalted butter

rolling pin

parchment paper

 

Preparation of the Date filling/barfi:

1. Chop the dates into pieces.
2. Put the dates and rose water in a food processor and process it to a paste.
3. Heat ghee in a pan over low heat.
4. Add the date paste and cook the mixture stirring it all the time over medium to low heat. Make sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. When the paste becomes dry take the pan off the heat.
6. Add the cashew nut powder, cardamom powder, ginger powder, chopped almonds and pistachios.
7. Mix well. Let the mixture cool down.

 

Preparation of the Cashew Nut Barfi (fudge):

1. Put the cashew nuts in a food processor and process them to a fine powder. However be careful not to over process it as it may clump up. You want a powder.
2. Add the cashew nut powder into a bowl.
3. Add sugar, cardamom powder and ghee to the cashew nut powder.
4. Mix everything together.
5. Add 2 tbsp of milk and begin to form a dough.
6. Be patient as it will become into a pliable dough. As you knead the mixture, the natural oil from the cashew nuts will be released which will help to make a soft pliable dough.

 

Final preparation of the Date and Cashew Nut Barfi:

1. Divide the date mixture into 2 parts and roll them into a log like shape about 6 inches long.
2. Divide the cashew nut dough into 2 parts and roll each part into a ball.
3. Cut parchment paper into squares that are about 8 -9 inches. You will need two of them. If you don’t have parchment paper then use cling film or cut plastic bags.
4. Place the cashew nut dough on the paper and press it down with your palm.
5. Place the other paper on top of it and roll into a rough square shape about 6-6½ inches all sides.
6. Remove the top paper. If you find the dough is torn just push it together gently to seal.
7. Place the date log on the bottom side of the rolled dough.
8. Using the parchment paper, roll it into a log.
9. Using a butter knife, gently rub down the edges to seal or use your fingers.
10. Place the roll on a greased tray or plate.
11. Repeat steps 4 to 10 with the remaining cashew nut dough and the date log.
12. Place the tray in the fridge for 30 minutes, uncovered.
13. Using a sharp knife slice the rolls. The thickness depends on how thick you want them.
14. Store in an airtight container. I have stored them in the fridge as its pretty hot here.

 

Tips:

• Add nuts and seeds of your choice to the date mixture.
• Use the date mixture to make date barfi of date slices. Its a healthy as it has no added sugar.
• Don’t roll out the cashew nut dough too thin. Trim any extra dough at the sides. You can roll the remains into a ball.
• Adding ginger powder is optional as I love the slightly hot taste.
• Don’t over process the cashew nuts.
• Use the same recipe for cashew nut barfi to make kaju katli or cashew nut barfi.

 

A little request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962

 

You may want to check out my other date recipes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sending this recipe to the following events:

CookOnceEatTwice@Searching for Spice