Almond Cream Fudge (Badam Barfi)

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Barfi (Photo by SiFu Renka/flickr)

This is sold in Indian sweet shops in large, flat diamond shapes on
which thin sheets of edible silver are sometimes pressed for decoration.

Ingredients

1 litre/2 pints/4 cups milk
185 g/6 oz/3/4 cup white sugar
375 g/12 oz blanched ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom or 6 drops cardamom extract
2 tablespoons blanched pistachio nuts
edible silver leaf (optional)

Directions

In a heavy saucepan (preferably one with a non-stick surface) boil the
milk, stirring constantly until it has reduced and thickened. Add the
sugar and stir over low heat. Add ground almonds and cardamom, and
continue cooking and stirring until mixture leaves sides of pan in one
mass.

Turn onto a buttered dish and quickly smooth top with the back of a
buttered spoon, or press a lightly buttered piece of banana leaf (or
aluminium foil) on the surface, and roll lightly with a rolling pin to
smooth and flatten the surface. Remove foil and when sweet is almost
cold, decorate with pistachio nuts which have been blanched for 30
seconds in boiling water. Remove the skins and split pistachios in two,
or cut into slivers. If using silver leaf decoration, handle it very
delicately, holding with the interleaved pieces of tissue and gently
fluttering the silver leaf (varak) onto the surface.

Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)