Maunika Gowardhan’s exciting-but-easy take on Indian food has wowed her followers on Instagram. We asked her to create an exclusive recipe for delicious. – a sweet, spiced treat for Diwali on 24 October
Online sensation
Coconut, saffron and pistachio barfi
Makes 20 barfi Hands-on time 25 min, plus at least 3 hours chilling
MAKE AHEAD
The barfi can be made up to a week in advance and kept in the fridge. Or wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost fully before eating.
MAUNIKA’S TIPS
For the best flavour and colour it’s worth buying good quality saffron and soaking it for at least 25 minutes.
Traditional barfi use khoya (dried milk solids) to bring the mix together, but I’ve opted for milk powder, which gives the required texture and density.
Indian sweets are usually made with ghee, but you can swap this for butter.
• 1 tbsp whole milk, warmed
• ½ tsp saffron threads (see Maunika’s tips)
• 300g coconut, grated (the frozen variety works well for this recipe)
• 397g can condensed milk
• 100g milk powder
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tbsp ghee (see Maunika’s tips)
• Handful almonds, roughly crushed
• Large handful pistachios, roughly crushed
1 Put the warm milk and saffron threads in a small bowl, stir briefly, then set aside to soak.
2 Line a baking tray that’s approximately 20cm x 20cm with baking paper. Put a large non-stick saucepan over a low heat and add the coconut and condensed milk. Cook, stirring regularly, for 10 minutes until the mixture has a toasted coconut aroma. Add the milk powder, then continue to stir and cook for 4-5 minutes – the mixture will begin to dry out an
