When my husband and I used to live in Fullerton, California, we would attend the annual Los Angeles Ratha-yatra celebration at Venice Beach. It was a grand parade, a colorful festival and there were many booths for spectators to browse. Quite a few of the booths were food booths. We had a little food booth of our own called "Miracles from Milk," where we sold homemade paneer steaks simmered in tomato sauce, and juicy gulabjamons, both miraculous epicurean delights made from milk. Although khoa burfi was not one of the items on our menu, it is nonetheless a miracle from milk. Khoa, or cooked-down milk, makes a most amazing cooking ingredient from which one can create all sorts of delicacies. Khoa burfi, or vanilla fudge, makes a great little treat to pack in lunches, to give to friends at holiday time, or to send in care-packages to lonely army doctors overseas. When my son Krishna dasa was deployed in Afghanistan, he requested that I send him a care-package of homemade khoa burfi. I was happy to oblige him.
1 gallon half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
In a LARGE pot (a 4-gallon pot with an aluminum-clad bottom is good) pour the half-and-half. Add the vanilla bean (if you don't have a vanilla bean, that's okay. It will still turn out delicious.) Turn on the flame to high. Allow the milk to come to a full, rolling boil. Stir in the sugar and keep stirring for a minute until the sugar dissolves. Scrape the bottom of the pot frequently with a straight-edged spatula to make sure the milk is not sticking to the bottom. As the quantity of the milk decreases with boiling, you will need to stir and scrape more frequently. Gradually turn down the flame to keep the milk from sticking. Be prepared ahead of time to stay with your burfi. You will be cooking for at least a couple of hours.
When the milk starts to get thick and you feel resistance while stirring--this usually happens around the two-hour point but it will vary according to your pot and the size of your flame--you will need to turn down your heat to low and continue scraping so as not to scorch the bottom. Scrape the sides of the pot often--I like to use a spoonula for this--and regularly clean off your straight-edged spatula with the spoonula so that all the khoa gets put back into the mixture in the pot. Keep scraping the bottom and sides of the pot until the cooked-down milk becomes a mass that tends to pull away from the sides of the pot and become a lump in the center of the pot. It should be thick and rather difficult to stir at this time. Now the cooking is finished, so remove the pot from the flame.
Line a 9" X 13" non-stick cake pan with parchment paper. Cut two pieces of parchment. One piece should fit the pan going one way, and the other should fit the pan going perpendicular to the first piece. Lay the two pieces of parchment in the pan perpendicular to each other. The inside corners of the pan will be exposed, but it won't be a problem if you use a non-stick cake pan.
If you don't have parchment paper, butter a non-stick cake pan.
Spoon the khoa into the pan. Press it evenly into the pan with the back of a spoonula so that it is equally distributed and level throughout. Make sure to press it into the corners. Don't worry if your khoa is lumpy. Just press down to make it as smooth as you can on the top.
Allow the khoa to cool. When cool, lift the khoa out of the pan by grasping the four ends of the parchment paper with your four hands (just kidding) and carefully transfer the rectangle to a cutting board. Leave the parchment paper in place while you cut. Use a sharp knife to cut the khoa. Wet your knife, then shake off the drops of water before cutting. With each cut, slide the knife slowly and firmly through the khoa. After each cut, wipe the blade of the knife, saving the little khoa scrapings from the knife in a little pile each time after you clean the knife. Wet the knife again for the next cut. Cut the whole rectangle into 48 pieces.
Now offer the burfi to God, from whom all wonderful ingredients come. He will accept your offering, then return it to you as spiritual food, or "prasadam." Arrange three or five pieces of burfi on Lord Krishna's plate (make sure Krishna has His own special plate that no one else eats from) and garnish them with Tulasi leaves or manjaris, if you have them. (Krishna really likes Tulasi ((holy basil)) ). Don't forget to offer Krishna a little cold drinking water with Tulasi in His own special cup. Offer the burfi and water to Him with love, then clean His plate and cup before honoring His remnants with devotion.
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| Khoa Burfi |
1 gallon half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
In a LARGE pot (a 4-gallon pot with an aluminum-clad bottom is good) pour the half-and-half. Add the vanilla bean (if you don't have a vanilla bean, that's okay. It will still turn out delicious.) Turn on the flame to high. Allow the milk to come to a full, rolling boil. Stir in the sugar and keep stirring for a minute until the sugar dissolves. Scrape the bottom of the pot frequently with a straight-edged spatula to make sure the milk is not sticking to the bottom. As the quantity of the milk decreases with boiling, you will need to stir and scrape more frequently. Gradually turn down the flame to keep the milk from sticking. Be prepared ahead of time to stay with your burfi. You will be cooking for at least a couple of hours.
When the milk starts to get thick and you feel resistance while stirring--this usually happens around the two-hour point but it will vary according to your pot and the size of your flame--you will need to turn down your heat to low and continue scraping so as not to scorch the bottom. Scrape the sides of the pot often--I like to use a spoonula for this--and regularly clean off your straight-edged spatula with the spoonula so that all the khoa gets put back into the mixture in the pot. Keep scraping the bottom and sides of the pot until the cooked-down milk becomes a mass that tends to pull away from the sides of the pot and become a lump in the center of the pot. It should be thick and rather difficult to stir at this time. Now the cooking is finished, so remove the pot from the flame.
Line a 9" X 13" non-stick cake pan with parchment paper. Cut two pieces of parchment. One piece should fit the pan going one way, and the other should fit the pan going perpendicular to the first piece. Lay the two pieces of parchment in the pan perpendicular to each other. The inside corners of the pan will be exposed, but it won't be a problem if you use a non-stick cake pan.
If you don't have parchment paper, butter a non-stick cake pan.
Spoon the khoa into the pan. Press it evenly into the pan with the back of a spoonula so that it is equally distributed and level throughout. Make sure to press it into the corners. Don't worry if your khoa is lumpy. Just press down to make it as smooth as you can on the top.
Allow the khoa to cool. When cool, lift the khoa out of the pan by grasping the four ends of the parchment paper with your four hands (just kidding) and carefully transfer the rectangle to a cutting board. Leave the parchment paper in place while you cut. Use a sharp knife to cut the khoa. Wet your knife, then shake off the drops of water before cutting. With each cut, slide the knife slowly and firmly through the khoa. After each cut, wipe the blade of the knife, saving the little khoa scrapings from the knife in a little pile each time after you clean the knife. Wet the knife again for the next cut. Cut the whole rectangle into 48 pieces.
Now offer the burfi to God, from whom all wonderful ingredients come. He will accept your offering, then return it to you as spiritual food, or "prasadam." Arrange three or five pieces of burfi on Lord Krishna's plate (make sure Krishna has His own special plate that no one else eats from) and garnish them with Tulasi leaves or manjaris, if you have them. (Krishna really likes Tulasi ((holy basil)) ). Don't forget to offer Krishna a little cold drinking water with Tulasi in His own special cup. Offer the burfi and water to Him with love, then clean His plate and cup before honoring His remnants with devotion.
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