I tend to shy away from Indian desserts.  For someone who usually awaits the dessert menu with bated breath, this shyness is uncharacteristic.  It’s just that I find Indian desserts too intensely sweet for me.  I want to love the sticky sweetness of jalebi or the doughnut-like galub jamun, but I have not yet acquired the taste.  So, when indulging at Indian buffets, I am most attracted to the large vessel of kheer at the end of the meal.  The fragrant pistachio-studded rice pudding is always slightly runny and always most delicious.

It was at my first book club meeting that I met with an Indian sweet that I would never refuse: coconut cardamom burfi.  Kheer as finger food.  The attractive fragrance of cardamom, the light crunch of pistachio, the creamy colour.  All there.

The recipe is from a great Australian TV series called Food Safari.  Each episode is a look at the cuisine of a specific culture.  The burfi recipe was from the show on India.

Coconut Cardamom Burfi—even a video to help you get started!

My interpretation?

I do weigh out 200 g of coconut—I use unsweetened.  A local supermarket sells 250-g bags and I have a tiny $10 kitchen scale, so it’s pretty simple.

For us here in North America, I use one can of Eagle brand condensed milk.

When cooking the mixture, I find that it takes around 10 minutes.  The change is quite subtle, but you will notice that the mixture seems drier and wants to come together as a large mass rather than something spreadable.

They are the perfect addition to your Christmas baking.  Who doesn’t want to eat snow every now and again?