Today Hindu families will be celebrating Raksha Bandhan, the festival of love, care and protection between brothers and sisters. On this auspicious day, sisters tie the rakhi/sacred thread around the wrist of their brothers and pray for their happiness and well being while brothers in return promise to safeguard them from sorrows and dangers alike.
A number of legends are linked to the festival all of which depict the affection between siblings in Indian mythology. There is a beautiful story in the Mahabharata scriptures about Draupadi, wife of the Pandavas, and Lord Krishna. The original rakhi is believed to have been a strip of saree that Draupadi tore off her own to bandage Krishna‘s bleeding finger. From there, Krishna vowed to be her protector at all times and fulfilled his brotherly duty by protecting her chastity by extending her saree’s length indefinitely so that it could not be removed by her molesters.
It is also traditional to exchange gifts and homemade sweets on Raksha Bandhan. This year I made my all-time favourite Indian mithai, the safarjan – a small apple shaped barfi with a hint of cardamom. The recipe is adapted from one I clipped from a newspaper years back; the source is from one of the cooks from Bombay Sweets, the famous mithai shop in Port Louis. I must say that it did produce a pretty accurate imitation of the shop’s best selling barfi. To all my brothers and cousins out there, wish you a Happy Raksha Bandhan!
SAFARJAN
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups paneer
1/2 cup milk powder
1 cup liquid milk
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Yellow food colouring
Red food colouring
Green food colouring
2 tbs slivered almonds
Method:
- In a non-stick pan, melt butter over low heat, then add milk and a pinch of yellow food colouring.
- Bring to the boil then add milk powder. Add paneer and mix well until everything comes together.
- Allow the mixture to cook over medium heat. Stir continuously so that it does not stick to the bottom.
- Simmer until the mixture thickens and starts to leave the sides of the pan after 10 to 12 mins.
- When it attains the texture of soft dough, remove from flame. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.
- With the mixture is still slightly warm, add sugar and cardamom powder.
- Knead the mixture well until it forms a smooth dough. Make small balls out of it.
- Garnish with red food colouring and almond slivers tinted with green food colouring. Makes 15 pieces.
Best Wishes to all Brothers & Sisters!
46 comments
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August 3, 2012 at 3:48 pm
N
Hi Prerrna.
Hp u dng well as always. Read ur article n recipe. N i really want to try making the sweet. Can u just tell me what kind of paneer u used n which brand? I’v never used n it would be great help. Thanks n take care. Awaiting for ur reply.
August 4, 2012 at 5:16 am
prerrnamirchi
Hi, I never buy paneer because it’s much easier to make it at home. Boil 2 litres of full cream milk in a heavy-botommed saucepan for about 5-10 minutes. Add lemon juice 1 teaspoon at a time to the hot milk until it separates into curds. Pour everything into a large cotton or muslin cloth and wash briefly under tap water. Hang the cloth from a height and allow to drain well. Next place the cloth with the paneer under a heavy weight for 1/2 hour until most of the water is lost. Keep it for a longer time if you want to make firm paneer that can be cut into cubes and used in curries. See, really simple 😉
August 4, 2012 at 3:59 pm
N
Hi Prerrna, thanks for your prompt reply 🙂 I would really want to try making the paneer the way u said, but afraid if it turns out bad due to my lack of knowledge and experience. The full cream milk u mentioned is liquid milk and not reconstituted from powder milk and water, right? Thanks for making it look so simple. And please tell me approx, how much lemon juice will i need. Thanks a lot doc.
August 5, 2012 at 12:32 am
prerrnamirchi
There’s a first time for every time my dear 🙂 But no fear, you can use either liquid or reconstituted milk and will need the juice of a medium sized lemon. Your paneer should turn out right; if you have any probs just email me and I’ll try to sort it out!
August 5, 2012 at 5:48 am
N
Thanks a lot Prerrna. I will surely try out the way you mentioned and report back to you with a positive feedback hopefully 🙂
August 5, 2012 at 3:49 pm
N
Hi again Prerrna. I tried but it did not came out a success. The paneer came out nicely 🙂 as you mentioned but I don’t know what went wrong 😦 After I added the paneer and let it cook, it did not turn out into a smooth dough.The paneer texture stayed. After that after I removed from gas and added sugar, the whole mixture turned out wet and liquid, maybe the sugar melted. Now that it was not getting thick as a dough like you mentioned and could not make balls out of it, I had no option but to put it back on the flame and let it dry, though it didn’t dry completely. To finish i put it in a plate to dry. It taste of fenouss just a lot sweeter.
August 6, 2012 at 1:45 pm
prerrnamirchi
sorry to hear that the safarjan did not turn out as planned but at least u were successful with the paneer 🙂 i cannot say why it did not work out, maybe u’ll have better luck next time. cheers!
August 6, 2012 at 3:38 pm
N
Hi Prerrna. Thanks a lot for your encouragement. I’ll try out another time. And thanks a lot for everything.
August 5, 2012 at 5:08 pm
Disha
Hey Prerna! Can you tell me how much cups are in grams? ‘Coz you know, Ive got measuring cups at home, but Im not too sure, they are the same as the ones you’re using..and one more question, do you prepare your own paneer? How do you do that? Do you have a recipe?
August 6, 2012 at 2:11 pm
prerrnamirchi
My reference for 1 cup is 240 ml, it is a less precise method that weight but easier to measure out ingredients. As I have explained before, the conversion of cups to grams depends on the density of ingredients. please refer to the conversion tables on http://allrecipes.com/howto/cup-to-gram-conversions/, http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/articles/369/weights+measurement+charts and http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm. The paneer recipe is provided in my reply to nmunbode in the same post, kindly refer to the above instructions. do let me know if you have any further query 🙂
August 5, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Disha
Oh, I saw the recipe for paneer! Thankyou, but what about the measurements?
August 6, 2012 at 2:11 pm
prerrnamirchi
which measurements?
August 10, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Disha
It was for the cups to gram conversion! Thank you so so much! Im trying the recipe tomorrow 🙂
August 11, 2012 at 5:50 pm
Disha
The mixture was gooey didnt come out good ;( But the paneer was good, Im thinking may be not enough water came out of the paneer ;( What could possibly be wrong?
August 11, 2012 at 6:46 pm
prerrnamirchi
hi disha there can be so many things that can go wrong with a recipe but it’s difficult for me to say what’s the exact problem. bit like diagnosing a patient over the phone without seeing him. sorry to hear that it did not turn out as u wanted. maybe you should have cooked the mixture after adding the sugar to get it to a drier consistency..
August 23, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Disha
maybe..or maybe I am thinking it is because of the milk..or I didnt get enough water out of the paneer! But Im trying this again soon! Coz yours looks yummy!!!
November 8, 2012 at 5:31 pm
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November 24, 2012 at 7:35 am
N
Hi Prerrna,
I tried again today but alas, it didn’t turn out as yours. I would like to ask you if the quantity of liquid milk is enough for the quantity of paneer? Because last time when I had tried I had put all the paneer made 2lts of milk. This time I thought i would try making less, so I made paneer from only 1 lt of milk and halved all the other ingredients. But see, in your photo, when you are putting the paneer, it seems that there is more liquid, so in the end it turns into a soft creamy dough. But mine, the milk seemed less, and the paneer did not cook enough before all the liquid was gone. So in the end, the paneer consistency was retained and it never came into a dough from which i can make balls. See if you can help me out please. Maybe there is something wrong in the quantity I don’t know.
Thanks a lot.
Yours look perfect.
Naf.
November 24, 2012 at 10:04 am
prerrnamirchi
oh dear i’m so sorry. i think i’ll try it myself with the same proportions to see if there is something missing in the recipe… will report back soon. cheers!
November 28, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Anousha
Hey..Prerrna..Hope u doing goo. just to let you know tried this recipe of your but was not like your qty it first turned out not quite dry then i cooked it again and finally added powdered milk to bind it.. After all these effort i can tell you the end result was good and every1 liked it.. thanks..
November 28, 2012 at 7:01 pm
prerrnamirchi
Hi Anousha! I have to review this recipe since many of my readers seem to be having problems with it. I might have made a mistake with the proportions but I’m happy to hear that you managed to get it right by your own effort. Good job!
August 14, 2013 at 9:25 pm
Sulabha
Hi. I’m studying in China and wanted badly to eat some Mauritian sweets and I came across your page here. I tried it but I got the same problem (did not dry well and the paneer texture persisted). Finally, I had to put it in a plate since I couldn’t make balls out of it. I flattened the mixture and decided to make it barfi-like (the shape). It tasted good. 🙂
August 15, 2013 at 9:32 am
prerrnamirchi
At least it tasted good, have not had time to review my recipe but I guess I’ll have to do it in the near future..
September 12, 2013 at 6:33 am
Ragini
Hi, i think there was a receipe of apple sweet shape in Essentielle magazine for Divali in 2009 by Bombay sweetmart , it must easier n it ‘s used milk liquid, milk powder , cardamone, vinegar white colour but unfortunately i lose the magazine n cant give the measurement , if sm1 ve this mag pls put the receipe online thx 🙂 i love this sweet.Take care hp 2 here from u soon.
September 13, 2013 at 6:00 am
prerrnamirchi
would be nice if someone would share the Essentielle recipe if they have it
October 24, 2013 at 4:17 pm
Ridhi
Hi Prerrna and Ragini, I have the recipe from Bombay sweetmart.(5plus oct 2009)..i thought of sharing it with you…
To be frank, tried it once however it turned out like fenousse…in short it was my first and last attempt 🙂
Ingredients: (Pour 50 gateaux)
1 kg de lait en poudre (prevoyez quelques cuilleres a bouche de lait de plus)
2 litres d’eau
Jus d’un limon
40g de mentegue
250g de sucre
10 g d’elaitie
Quelques gouttes de colorant alimentaire lemon yellow
Quelques gouttes de food flavour de safran
Quelques badam
Preparation:
Melangez l’eau avec le lait. Puis portez a ebullition dans une casserole, sur un feu fort.
Ajoutez le jus du limon.. Le lait se separera du liquide. Enlevez ce liquide de la casserole.
Toujours sur feu fort, ajoutez le mentegue et encore quelques cuilleres a bouche de lait afin d’obtenir une pate assez onctueuse.
Ajoutez le sucre et a l’aide d’une spatule, melangez le tout energiquement pendant 15 a 20 minutes.
Puis retirer votre casserole de feu et laissez refroidire.
Ajoutez l’elaiti, le colorant alimentaire et l’essence de safran.
Faites des petites boules de votre pate de lait.
Piquez un badam au millieu de chacune des boules.
Pour finir, faites trois petits ronds autour du badam avec du rasberry red.
Please tried it and let me know…
Many thanks…
October 31, 2013 at 8:06 am
prerrnamirchi
Thank you Ridhi, I have to try it out…
November 2, 2013 at 7:48 pm
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March 15, 2014 at 2:38 am
Lovena
Hi Prerrna, I tried your recipe tonight and as the others, it came out wet and I could not make balls. You mentioned that you may have made a mistake with the measurement, please advise, I would like to make them again.
March 18, 2014 at 10:12 am
prerrnamirchi
yeah there must be a mistake, sorry. plz dnt try this one until I have it sorted out, thnx.
October 16, 2014 at 11:28 am
Angel Poonam
Hi guys..the paneer should be kneaded before using it for apple shaped laddoos..simply drain excess water well n use a grinder which u have at home to make it soft n creamy consistency..else instead of a dough it will be grainy(fenouse) like most of u mentioned..hope it helps..
October 22, 2014 at 3:10 pm
S_Léo
hi..
can we replace the paneer with something else?
October 30, 2014 at 5:57 pm
Angel Poonam
Hi..i made this for divali..the way i mentioned slightly above..n it came out extremely nice n the secret ingredient is kewra essence..the aroma is same as bombaysweet mart with kewra essence..no paneer is wat u need..only milk powder will giv u result as any typical milk laddoo..
November 10, 2014 at 7:56 pm
prerrnamirchi
hello poonam can u plz mentioned where to find the kewra essence? thnx
July 7, 2015 at 10:24 am
sanjana
elOw^^
I want tO knOw abOut the paneer…
I don’t knOw abOut that 😦
Where i cOuld get paneer or cOuld i prepare it??
Plz i need a quick answer
July 17, 2015 at 7:09 pm
prerrnamirchi
hello sanjana! paneer is ver simple to make. you simply need to boil milk until it thickens and add a lil bit of fresh lemon juice to it until the milk solids separate out. you then need to get rid of the excess water by hanging the solids in a cheesecloth for about 1 hour. Leave it for longer if you need paneer with firm consistency e.g. for curries and snacks
November 15, 2015 at 11:15 pm
Natasia
Hi Prrena,
Were you able to review the recipe?
Just wanted to know before I go ahead and try it.
Thanks
November 29, 2015 at 3:25 pm
prerrnamirchi
hope I have time to do it soon…
November 20, 2015 at 10:36 am
Anousha
hi… bought kewra essence today at Super Unic Way at Q.Bornes (supermarche Ram) hope it’s useful..
November 29, 2015 at 3:25 pm
prerrnamirchi
hi anousha do try it n lemme knw 🙂
July 1, 2016 at 2:33 pm
Tanvee
Has the recipe been reviewed
July 7, 2016 at 9:04 pm
prerrnamirchi
Nope hopefully will do so before Raksha Bandhan! Sorry 😦
September 7, 2016 at 12:11 pm
Vandi
Is it reviewed now plz?
September 19, 2016 at 6:49 pm
prerrnamirchi
not yet reviewed, sorry. hopefully will do so before divali.
October 12, 2016 at 2:05 pm
Nat
Sorry for asking again but has the recipe been reviewed. I wanted to make it for Divali please.
Thank you
October 16, 2016 at 8:25 pm
prerrnamirchi
Hello Nat I’m trying to get it done before Diwali.