Barfi & Fudge
Set, sliceable milk and nut fudges.
Barfi is Indian fudge: milk solids, nuts or gram flour cooked with sugar until the mixture holds its shape, then set in a tray and cut into squares or diamonds. Getting the set right comes down to the sugar syrup or the thickness of the mixture, and you can judge both by look and feel without a candy thermometer. Where khoya is hard to find, milk powder stands in well.
55 min Kaju Roll (Cashew Rolls with Kesar Filling)
Thin sheets of cashew katli dough rolled around a saffron-cardamom filling, sliced into neat pinwheels.
1 hr Soan Papdi at Home (Flaky Layered Mithai)
A homemade version of the tin-box classic, built on pulled sugar threads and a gram-and-chickpea flour dough.
50 min Besan Barfi (Fudgy Gram Flour Barfi)
A dense, fudgy besan barfi that depends on roasting the gram flour to a deep amber shade before it meets the sugar.
1 hr 5 min Mohanthal (Gujarati Besan Barfi)
A grainy, ghee-rich Gujarati besan barfi, with the texture built in at the dhabo stage before roasting.
45 min Kaju Katli (Cashew Barfi) Without a Candy Thermometer
Thin, diamond-cut cashew fudge made with just cashews and sugar syrup, cooked to the classic one-string stage by eye and feel.