Naariyal(coconut) ki burfi

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by Deeksha Pathak

My love for Naariyal(coconut) ki burfi started after I settled down in Chennai. I guess after my marriage if I wouldn’t have settled down in South India, I would not have learned how to prepare Naariyal (coconut) ki burfi . No, that doesn’t mean that people in North India don’t know how to prepare Naariyal ki burfi or coconut burfi. Before my marriage I hardly took any interest with my mom to prepare sweets. After settling down in Chennai and now in Bangalore whenever my husband and I were invited to anyone’s house for some special occasion, I used to get one coconut, beetle leaves, supari (betel nut) along with haldi- kumkum. In North, we never had so many fresh coconuts all year round. So, I used to be excited to get coconuts with each visit! But how much could I eat…. and how to use so many coconuts? Then I decided to learn coconut burfi. Took some tips from my mother as she is an expert in preparing sugar syrup based sweets. So now, after every festival there was coconut burfi in our house as I used to get invitations from 8 to 10 neighbors. The more invitations, the more coconuts!!!

But slowly over the years to be on the healthier side, I reduced my sugar intake and so I stopped making coconut burfi. I decided to prepare it only once a year during the occasion of  Janmashtmi. But this year I prepared Naariyal ki burfi with dry desiccated coconut powder.

naariyal ki burfi

Is there any difference between burfi prepared with dry desiccated coconut powder and fresh grated coconut? Yes, there is…. Fresh grated coconut has lots of moisture so it takes a lot of time to reduce the moisture. With dry coconut powder preparation time is less and we don’t need to keep burfi in the fridge for 3-4  days.

I have two more types of burfi posts  in the blog, can take a look… Dry fruits Burfi  

Seven Cups Burfi

Some points to remember:
  1. While measuring sugar, coconut and water we don’t need any specific measuring cups. Use any cup, glass or bowl from your kitchen and use the same vessel for measuring all three ingredients.
  2. I had used 4 cups of sugar for 5 cups of coconut and I felt that burfi was overly sweet. So the quantity of sugar can be reduced to 3 or 3+1/2 cups.
  3. It is sugar syrup based sweet, so it’s a bit tricky as preparing the right consistency of sugar syrup needs experience.
  4. When sugar syrup starts becoming thick, reduce the flame and take some syrup at the edge of of spoon and from there very carefully try to check with your finger and thumb about the thread consistency. If there is only one thread formation, it means that syrup still needs to be cooked for some more time. Be very attentive because if sugar thickens more than two thread consistency, burfi would be dry and brittle.

naariyal ki burfi

  1. If burfi is not properly set in the plate after cooling down also and you can feel a lot of moisture is still there, then once again collect it and put it back in the wok. Switch on flame and using spatula, stir it on medium flame till it becomes thick and sticky .It might take 5 to 10 minutes. Pour it again in another greased plate and set it down.

  2. Sometimes we overdo sugar syrup and after cooling down, burfi is very dry and brittle. Don’t worry, we can still fix this. Crumble all burfi pieces. It will be in a coarse powder form. Pour 1/3 cup of milk in the wok, heat it and add that broken coarse powder. Keep stirring it on medium flame and when it turns thick and sticky, pour it in a new greased plate and set it down.

  3. If it is difficult to judge whether batter is sticky enough or not to set it in the plate, very carefully (it is very hot) take 1/4 tsp batter and try to prepare it as a ball. If you are able to bind it easily, batter is ready to set in the plate.

coconut burfi

 Ingredients:

Desiccated dry coconut powder 5 cups

Granulated sugar 4 cups ( can reduce little bit)

Water 1+ 1/2cup

Milk 2 tbsp

Ghee       only to grease the plate

Cardamom powder       1+1/2 tsp

Process:

Grease a big plate (preferably with high edges around it) with ghee and keep it separately.

Measure coconut powder and keep it in a bowl or plate.

dry coconut powder

In a heavy bottomed wok heat one cup of water and add sugar in it. Keep it stirring till sugar dissolves completely.

Once sugar dissolves completely, add milk. The wok would be full of bubbles.

Slowly bubbles would settle down and the impurities of the sugar will gather around the wok. With the help of spatula take them out and throw them. Add cardamom powder.

On medium to high flame let this sugar syrup boil till it reaches two thread consistency. Add measured coconut powder, quickly mix it well and spread it in greased plate evenly. With the help of flat spatula  pat it nicely so that it sets down firmly.

After 10 minutes cut burfi in any shape and let it cool down completely.

Coconut burfi

Once burfi cools down completely, once again cut it into pieces with a sharp knife and spread happiness with your homemade coconut burfi!

naariyal ki burfi

During festivals nothing is better than gifting your friends homemade sweets…

 

Published by

Deeksha Pathak

I like reading, watching movies, listening to music, doing some art and craft, cooking, baking and exploring new ideas. Baking is my new passion!!

84 thoughts on “Naariyal(coconut) ki burfi”

  1. Looks so delicious, like the presentation. Thank You Deeksha for this post. My Mom also makes very nice coconut burfi.

      1. Yes Deeksha, what I have also noticed is they derive maximum happiness seeing their children enjoying their dishes, sometimes they don’t even get a chance to taste what they cooked. I love my Mom.

      2. I completely agree with you Sri. Mothers don’t even care if something is left for them or not. They just believe in feeding their loved ones and feel satisfied.

  4. This is one of my fav sweets from childhood days. We make with fresh coconut only. But as you have mentioned that in North, we don’t get much coconut,using desiccated coconut is a nice idea.

    Also I read about your blogging journey in about me page… It’s a beautiful start and a great journey.

    1. Niranjana, thank you very much for goings through the posts and appreciating 😊☺️ Some good things happen in life occasionally and this blog is one of them. I was not sure if I will stay so long but I am enjoying every moment here. Thanks once again ☺️
      Have a safe and wonderful weekend!

  7. I prepared this for Janmashtami this time. We prepare 5 sweets for lord Krishna and this was one of them. But I have never tried with dry copra.. should try next. 😊

    1. Woww, 5 different sweets…!! I wish if I could celebrate janmashtami with you 😊
      In North fresh coconut is available only during summer so we use dry coconut only.

      1. Along with 5 savories.. the southies savories chakli, kodbale, muruku nippat tengol. In Bangalore you sure would have come across these as well 😄😄😄

        With dry coconut, may the shelf life would be a bit longer too.. I should try this 😊thanks for sharing

      2. Yes, each year from friends I get these wonderful goodies in Prasad. In our tradition we don’t use any grain and white salt that day. So the whole Prasad is based on fruits and fruit flours.
        Yes, dry coconut burfi has more shelf life. I hope you will like the taste as well!!

    1. Awwww.. thank you so much dear Radhika 😊 😊.
      In Jaipur fresh coconut was available only during summer and that too we used to buy from street vendors one tiny piece in 5 ₹. So we always used dessicated coconut. After settling down in South got to know that burfi can be done with fresh coconut also!!!

  10. I always liked those sweets, when I was invited to my bosses from Punjab. They also made something like this with – you won’t guess it – paneer! 😉
    And sometimes there would be silver foil on it. I always wondered why, because silver kills germs maybe?

    1. I told you Stella, Punjabi and Paneer are synonym 😀
      Sweets look beautiful with that silver vark, that’s all, and there is no real silver there, everything is artificial so now no one uses it at home. At shops they are still using.

      Probably during the time of wealthy kings… their royal chefs might be using real silver.

      1. Hihi, I know, that’s why I pointed it out, our little joke on the Punjabis … 😉
        A year before the company moved to Frankfurt, we got a new boss, I think he was from Gujarat, and a manager from Kashmir. He was a nice young guy, but he always pointed out at the beginning that his complexion would get much lighter now that he was in Germany, where there wasn’t so much sun. I didn’t know what to say to him, I wanted to say “who cares”, but it was obviously important to him. The Punjabis didn’t have that kind of complexes. Neither did our Bengali colleague. I am rambling on, that’s how it is with old people, all kinds of memories come up all of a sudden … 🙂

      2. Stella, age is just a number. Otherwise seeing your energy level (touchwood☺️) you can give a tough time to any adult.
        Yes, in India mostly people are obsessed with fair colour including Punjabis. But at the same time Punjabis live and enjoy life with full enthusiasm. Eat, drink, dance, wear nice clothes and enjoy each day – is their motto.
        Memories are always nice and sharing with others we just enjoy that good old time. I always love to talk about our our experiences in Jamaica, then staying in the rented house, house owners, neighbors and friends… there is so much to just talk talk talk… and what’s wrong in that😇

      3. I am glad that you look at it that way … I don’t want to go on anybody’s nerves. That company was the one I worked longest ever with, almost five years, and if they hadn’t moved to Frankfurt, who knows … It was fun working there, and their wives were so nice. They would give some food for me to their husbands to bring for lunch, because they knew how much I loved it.

  13. coconut is a perfect treasure from the mother earth! the whole fruit is a gem. we are lucky to experience the wonderful nutrition and flavor of coconut!

      1. It’s pretty much the same procedure, but to get good results it’s best to buy unpeeled almonds and peel them, which is time consuming. But the result is worth it! 🙂

  17. Oh I love coconut barfi, Deeksha and you have presented it in its pure essence. I try getting from the mithai shop but they are so expensive. The barfis are yummy but as you said can’t eat a lot or will become fat. Thank you for this excellent share.

  18. Dessicated coconut instead of grated coconut is something new for me..I would definitely try this version of it..Thanks for sharing Deeksha!

    1. You are always welcome Bharti😊☺️
      Dessicated coconut burfi has more shelf life also, so we don’t have to worry about finishing it soon😀
      I hope you will like the taste also. Have a safe and great weekend.

  20. We grew up with Nariyal Ladoo being prepared in our home. It is a yummy treat. So intead of shape of a barfi it was ladoo. One of the “richest” home made Mithai one can have.

      1. Absolutely. I guess this is something that many more people have started realizing after the Current situation.

  23. Wow
    आज बना दिया आपने
    आत्मनिर्भर हमे यहां
    कोशिश करेंगे दिल से कभी
    हम भी मिठाई नारियल बनाए यहां।।

    न्योता देगे कभी आपको
    आ सको तो आना आप
    फोटो भी लगाएंगे यहाँ तभी
    देख जी भर लेना कभी दोस्त।।

  28. This delicious dessert is often made in Diwali, which can be eaten for several days👌👌. Great ma’am, congratulations to you🙏🙏🌻🎆

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