Yellow is the color of joy, hope, happiness and sunshine. It is also considered as a fun color. With the most stressful summer ever, we, as a family, are ready for some cheerfulness. We are hoping for a cheerful fall and saying good-bye to childcare worries and a chaotic household.
My blog is important to me, and the fact that I can’t seem to dedicate any time to it is sad. Life is so busy that I hardly have any time to phone a friend to catch up for days, weeks or months. A comment from my blog friends is sometimes all the conversation I have between a pile of work and household chores and above all mommy duties.
I want to apologize to all my fans, friends and readers for being irregular for the last few months. I truly appreciate all of you leaving a comment on the few posts I have shared lately and also apologize for not able to make time to visit you as often as I would like to.
Barfi translates to diamond shaped sweets. The split pea(chana or buter dal) barfi or halva is a recipe my mom often made almost every year during our childhood. There are many variations of the recipe. Some are chewy while others can be crumbly or very firm. Then, there are many which calls for much more sugar than the recipe I am sharing. As you can tell, I, off course, love my mom’s version that is soft and smooth and has just the right amount of sugar and fragrant with exotic and warm spices such as cardamom and cinnamon. Another distinction of my mom’s recipe is that she boils the chana dal in milk instead of water.
To avoid burning since the halva needs constant stirring, the halva can become laborious if there are too much liquid leftover after boiling the chana dal. I would recommend adding the liquid in phases, as the amount of liquid would vary depending on the quality of split pea. If there is too much leftover liquid, the pureed dal will take longer to dry out making the recipe time-consuming and leaving a strained hand from all the stirring.
The split pea or chana dal barfi is a great fudge type dessert that stores very well in freezer. It’s a great protein rich dessert, after school snack or a tea time treat.
Have you tried dried bean or lentil based desserts before?
- 2 cups split pea
- 6 cups milk
- 1 cup powdered milk
- 1 cup water
- 1¾ cups sugar
- 2-3 cardamom
- 3-4 cinnamon, each about inch
- ½ cup butter or ghee
- Pinch of saffron (optional)
- Cashews, raisins for garnish (optional)
- Soak split pea in water for at least 2 hours.
- Wash and boil split pea starting with 4 cups of milk. Add the remaining milk as needed to soften the split pea. You may not need all the milk or need more depending on the split pea quality.
- In a food processor, puree the cooked split pea to a silky smooth paste. If too dry, you may need to add some milk.
- In a thick bottomed or non-stick pan, make syrup with sugar and water in medium heat.
- Add split pea puree and saffron.
- Cook in low heat stirring constantly, scrapping the pan bottom.
- Add the powdered milk.
- Cook until the mixture is sticky and a mass pulls away from the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Remove from heat. Spread in a serving platter. Let cool.
- Add cardamom and cinnamon to the syrup.
- Add butter/ghee.
- Cut into diamond-shaped barfi(or any other shape) and garnish with cashews and/or raisins.
Make sure the split pea is not too dry when done cooking. If dry, you may need to add milk when pureeing. However, do not add too much milk as the cooking time will be longer to dry up the added milk.
Use a thick bottomed or non-stick pan for ease of cooking and avoid burnout.
As the puree thickens on stove, the halva needs to be stirred consistently to achieve a smooth texture.
Few drops of rose-water is a delightful option to add a light rose flavor to the barfi.
A fudge made from deliciousness…I love everything made with cashews and cardamom. Pinned!
Thank you, Denise. I love cashews too but these do not have any.
So yummy!! What a wonderful recipe for the festival season!!
Thank you, Apu.
This is a terrific dessert! First, it’s relatively healthy for a dessert. Second, to me it’s unique – I love all dried pulses and legumes, but I don’t often associate them with dessert. Gotta try this! Thanks so much.
I hope you got to try these, John. Absolutely delicious and I know you’ll love’em. Thank you so much.
Amazing sounding fudge!
Amazing indeed.
One of my kind burfi…..so indulging and yum….you made it so perfectly…..
Thank you, Lubna.
I had no idea that barfi could be made of peas…looks amazingly perfect!
These are very popular in Bangladesh and delicious too. Thank you.
This looks so yum 🙂 thank you for the recipe
You are welcome, my friend. Thank you for stopping by.
Love barfi and this is no exception! yum!
Thank you, Kiran.
Love the barfi recipe- will have to attempt making it at home (well ask my mom at least!)
I hope you’ll give it a try soon(or ask your mom). They are scrumptious. Thank you!
This looks so delicious! I love cardamom and cashews!
Thank you Stephanie. I love cashews but these barfi’s do not have any cashews.
Beautiful color and texture of the fudge 🙂 Looks and smells exactly like home 🙂
Like “home” because made with love and care right here in my tiny kitchen of my home. Thank you.
drool worthy burfis…recipe is just perfect…with all those yummy ingredients we won’t be able to stop ourselves at a few…lovely food clicks,thanks for sharing 🙂
Totally agree. Thank you!
These burfi’s look outstanding…Thanks for visiting my blog 🙂 Glad you did because that way I was able to find you 🙂
Thank you for stopping by Shema. Take care.
I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this lovely dessert. I can tell by looking at it and your wonderful list of ingredients that is it is going to be moist and delicate. I know exactly what you mean about being busy and I also exchange my regrets for taking such a long time for a visit. Life is so busy! Take Care, BAM
Life is busy and hectic, but beautiful, isn’t it. Thank you for taking the time to stop by. Best.
this looks so yummy. lovely clicks for the tempting fudge
Thank you, Meg.
Everything protein based is up to my alley. If it is also sweet well… the it is just irresistible!
Irresistible indeed, Daniela. Thank you.
Hi could i substitute sugar with jaggery(ghur) Nd how much would i need?
Thanks
Traditionally, chana dal halwa is made with sugar. This halwa has a very distinct flavor from the dal being mixed with ghee and all the aromatic spices. Personally, I think the flavor of jaggery(gur) may over power the aroma of the dal and the chana dla halwa will lose it’s originality. That being said, I am sure you can substitute gur with sugar. If you try with gur, I would love to hear how the halwa comes out to be.
Thank you for stopping by. I hope to see you soon again.
In Pakistan, we make Chana Daal Halwa. I’ve never made it myself but I know that it takes several hours and lots of elblow grease to make it! This, I think, is more do-able and I’d love to make it on a morning when I have less to do.
i lov tis type of dassi desserts.looking great/////
Thank you, Attia. Glad you like it.
I make a dairy-free version of this a couple of times a year. People look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them I make chickpea fudge, but I just smile to myself because that means I don’t have to share!
I’ve never tried a dairy-free version but I am sure that tastes delicious too. Oh, yes, I don’t think you are crazy to do that, so would you share some with me?
Hi Lail Apu, any suggestions for replacing the sugar with sweetener? I want to make this for a person with diabetics. Thanks
Hello. Thank you for stopping by. Usually, you can substitute sugar with the same amount or sweetener such as stevia or splenda. I’ve never tried it but I would love to know if you made the halwa with some kind of sweetener. Look forward to having you back on the blog soon. Hugs 🙂
Thanks for the suggestion Lail Apu:)
My pleasure!
had this today from a restaurant buffet- it was a good and not-too-sweet version, but I wanted to see the recipe. Seems like a fairly nutritious sweet with the peas and milk.maybe will try to make it myself some day.
Hi! Yes, the split pea recipe is is fairly rich in protein. I’m glad you are planning to follow the recipe to make at home. I would love to see your photos. Share with us by using hashtag #WithASpinRecipes