Citrus Burfi/Sweet Lime Burfi

What citrus burfi?Are you kidding?These were the questions I asked to Mrs.Dhanalakshmi Nagarajan a friend of fine and a follower of my blog ,when she told me about the citrus burfi.I feel happy talking to her as she follows my blog regularly and gives her genuine comments and appreciation after trying out few of my recipes.On one such conversation she asked me to try this Citrus burfi and gave me her recipe.She said her sons like these burfis a lot and she has been preparing these burfis successfully for quite a few years.When I took down the recipe it had sweet lime juice as well as milk as part of its ingredients.My immediate question was wont the citrus fruit juice curdle the milk ?Also we will be heating both the ingredients  together in the burfi making process.She said it doesn't and I was still not convinced.But I wanted to try this recipe as it sounded new and with this blog on the go,new ideas are always worth to be tried.So yesterday I started preparing for it and before I switched on the flame I prayed to Lord Ganesh for his blessings on my first attempt(still I was scared about the fact "citrus and milk?").

The recipe has quite a lot of ingredients but most of the things are common and were easily available at home.The only stuff I got for this recipe specially was the orange essence as the recipe mentioned it.It took me quite some time and patience to get these burfis. But all the hard work was worth when you finally get to taste something wonderful and sweet at the end.Yes,first of all the milk never curdled and also the burfis came out perfect.So what  are you waiting for?Try these citrus burfis today itself for this diwali.With the following measurements I got nearly 52 small squares of burfi and weighed nearly a kg.So it is perfect for sharing too.I called Mrs.Dhanalakshmi to thank her for the delicious recipe and told her the burfis came out perfectly.It tastes great at room temperature and stores well up to 3-4 days. 

Citrus Burfi

Makes:52 small burfis

Preparation time:1 hour

Ingredients:

Sweet lime juice-1 cup

Milk-1 cup + Little for soaking cashews

Cashews-1 cup

Maida/All purpose flour-1/2 cup

Besan/Gram flour-1/2 cup

Sugar-3 cups

Butter-1 cup

Ghee-2 to 3 tbsp(optional)

Orange essence-1 tsp

Procedure:

1.Soak cashews in hot milk(just enough milk to soak the cashews) for 20 minutes and then grind it to a fine paste.

2.Extract a cup of sweet lime juice from the fruit.(approximately you will requite 4 sweet limes).

3.Roast Maida and Gram flour till nice aroma arises.Make sure the flours don't change their colors.

4.With the roasted flours,mix all the above mentioned ingredients(cashew paste,milk,butter,sweet lime juice,orange essence,ghee,sugar) and stir well so that no lumps are formed.Make sure the butter is at the room temperature.Even if  mall lumps are there try to break it with the help of the ladle and mix well.

5.In a low flame,keep stirring till the mixture thickens and starts to leave the sides of the pan without sticking to it.This part requires a lot of patience if you are going prepare with the same quantity as me.It takes nearly 40 minutes to get the right texture.Time may reduce if you reduce the quantities of the ingredients proportionally.

6.When it starts to thicken and starts to leave ,switch off the flame and pour the mixture on to a greased plate.Even it out using the ladle and cut in to slices.

7.Once it cools down,separate the pieces and store them in an air tight container for 3-4 days(shelf life).

Citrus Burfi

Tips:

*Ghee is optional.I only used butter and didn't add ghee.

*Make sure the milk is at room temperature before adding it to the flours.

*If you are not able to cut pieces then you have taken the mixture before the correct burfi consistency.Then don't panic,take a small amount and cool it by blowing air if it doesn't set properly bin your hand,then pour back the mixture in to the wok and again mix it well in low flame till it starts to leave the sided of the pan and again pour it on to the greased plate and cut it into pieces.

Citrus Burfi