Sweet, flavorful and chewy, coconut burfi is one of my favorite sweets. Fresh coconut meat cooked in cardamom flavored sugar syrup – recipe is so simple, method is very easy and the taste is heavenly. We, in our family prepare it without adding milk in contrast to some other versions, where milk and ghee are also added along with fresh coconut to sugar syrup.
Last weekend, weather was so perfect and spring like. We felt like having some sweet. So we went to neighborhood Rulli Brothers grocery shop and purchased two coconuts, each for about 79 cents. Came home, prepared the sweet and enjoyed it. We still have some pieces of burfi left but the spring like weather – gayab ho gaya (disappeared). It’s snowing here today!
Recipe:
(For 12 medium sized squares)
2 cups of fresh grated coconut
1½ cups of sugar (or 2 cups – your choice)
Half glass of water
2 cardamom pods, seeds finely powdered
A tray greased with ghee (for pouring the cooked mixture)
Method:
In a big sturdy vessel take water and sugar. Keep the heat on medium-low allowing the sugar to melt completely to prepare the sugar syrup. Cook it until the sugar syrup reaches softball like consistency. To know the right consistency – do the cold water candy test. Take few tablespoons of water in a cup, add a drop of sugar syrup to water. If it holds its shape (softball) doesn’t dissolve into water then it’s at the right consistency.
Fresh Grated Coconut ………………Sugar Syrup on the way to softball stage
Fresh coconut is added to the thickened sugar syrup…… Coconut burfi – pressed into a squarepan to cool
Add the grated coconut and cardamom powder to the sugar syrup. Keep the heat on medium and cook, stirring frequently to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan. In 10 to 15 minutes, the mixture will be reduced to half, becomes very thick and comes away easily from the sides of pan – this is the signal to turnoff the heat. (At this stage, you’ve to be fast and alert, otherwise, the mixture will be overcooked and turns into dry sweetened coconut flakes – commercial kind of mixture.) Immediately pour this mixture into the greased tray. Level it evenly with a spatula, and cut into squares. Let cool.
To serve or store, reverse the tray onto a big plate, separate the squares and store them in an airtight container. Because it doesn’t have any milk products, this sweet can stay fresh up to two weeks.
Kitchen notes:
Authentic South Indian coconut burfi is prepared only with fresh grated coconut. Grating the coconut takes little bit effort but I think of it as an exercise, mainly upperarm workout.
Checkout this site for clear photo and video demonstration of sugarsyrup stages.
Indian Sweets 101 – Celebrating Holi with Coconut Burfi
Recipe Source:Amma
Hope you had a great Holi, Indira! Wonderful idea for a series – Indian sweets 101. And an auspicious day to start it on, too. I look forward to more mouth-watering treats from you!
Comment by Manisha — March 15, 2006 @ 1:00 am
You coconut burfi looks delicious. Perfect color too. What do you use for grating coconut ?
Comment by Krithika Ramachandran — March 15, 2006 @ 7:58 am
Holy Hai and thanks Manisha!
KR…I’ve just posted a picture coconut grater, check it out. Thanks.
Comment by Indira — March 15, 2006 @ 8:31 am
Indira,
Kobbari louju looks yum!! Reminds me of my childhood days when I used to pester my mom with questions like “is it done yet” atleast 50 times before she was done making this sweet. Thankyou for bringing those memories back.
Arjuna
Indira replies:
Me and my sisters also like you. I remember few incidents of burning tongue… because we couldn’t wait for this sweet to cool. 🙂
Thanks!
Comment by Arjuna — March 15, 2006 @ 9:07 am
Hi Indira,
Wonderful recipe without milk & ghee,thats what I love about it.And as usual photos are really appealing.
Great idea of 101 sweets!!Looking forward for your sweet recipes..
Indira replies:
Thanks Annita.
Comment by Annita — March 15, 2006 @ 9:21 am
Thank you for this method !
Indira replies:
You are welcome, Marie T.
Comment by MarieT — March 15, 2006 @ 9:52 am
wow the burfi looks yummy. Somehow i had a feeling that all the indian sweets are very complicated to make. Felt the same abt Mysorepak , but form ur step by step process pics helped a lot.
Like u said as much as we like savouries , we enjoy sweets too. And there is no festivals or special occasions without no sweets. And the idea of 101 is great. MMMMmmmm looks like iam gonna learn to make lotsa sweets. Is this Mahanandhi’s birthday treat 🙂
Indira replies:
Hi Priya, I’m losing interest in blogging, this series is my attempt to rekindle the interest. Let’s see how it progresses and please don’t expect much. Most of the recipes I’m going to blog, you may already know them.:)
Comment by priya,ar — March 15, 2006 @ 9:55 am
Hi Indira,
Was wondering which brand of sugar you use.It looks just like the one we get in India not the fine one we get here.Also how do you maintain shape of burfi on baking tray without sides.Do you use any particular method to do this.
Indira replies:
For the past couple of months I’ve been using “Indian Sugar” Purchased during our visit to Toronto at Subji Mandi. I was sick and tired of chemical like taste of sugar (“domino” brand) avialable here in the markets. That’s why when I saw our kind of sugar, even though it priced a little bit high, I bought the bag. Checkout this link to see the photo.
I posted a new photo, check it out. First I pressed the burfi into a square pan to cool down. Once it’s cool I reversed it into a big pan, to separate the cut pieces and to store in a jar.
Comment by marietta — March 15, 2006 @ 11:03 am
You know I felt like slicing a piece for myself from that last photo! Lovely idea of the 101.
Indira replies:
Thanks Ashwini.
Comment by Ashwini — March 15, 2006 @ 12:06 pm
Wow, Indira! It looks exactly like my mom’s! She doesnt add milk and ghee too.. Says, milk masks the real taste of coconut and no ghee bcos coconut has enough grease in it.
I have a question – how did you level the ends to perfect squarish ends, inspite of having a small rimmed tray.. I was thinking I need some square trays with rims atleast an inch or two for these ends..
Indira replies:
I agree with your mother. There is enough oil and fat in coconut as it is.:)
I’ve posted a new photo, check it out. First I pressed the burfi into a square pan to cool down. Once it’s cool I covered the squarepan with a big baking pan and reversed it. To separate the cut pieces and to store in a jar – little bit easy and less messy in this way, rather than lifting them from the squarepan.
Comment by Kay — March 15, 2006 @ 12:17 pm
WooW!! DO I have a sweet tooth?
OH!!YA!!
Do i love your photography?
YEP YEP YEP!!
An excellent series Indira which iam SUre gonna follow…..
Indira replies:
I also have a big sweet tooth (but I don’t like to talk about it and sort of my secret, not anymore ofcourse) 🙂
Thanks!
Comment by BDSN — March 15, 2006 @ 1:08 pm
Indira,
Great to see you start a series on sweets!
There are a couple of things that I haven’t gotten right before while making this sweet as well as while making burfis. Hoping you can answer
1. Once the contents are poured onto a baking sheet and pressed down with spatula to get a flat surface.. are they cut into squares immediately or is it better to wait until they have cooled down a bit?
2. What do you use to cut them into squares? I use a greased knife, but when I drag it across, the burfi sticks to it and I am not able to get perfect squares.
Also, sometimes when I have let the burfi cool down a bit and then attempt to cut squares, the burfi turns brittle and cracks.
Indira replies:
1. I usally cut them immediately. But if the mixture is too sticky, I’ll wait for few more minutes until it coolsdown a bit.
2. Just regular straight edged knife. I wipe it out with papertowel, if it becomes too sticky.
3. Cut it when it is still warm, this prevents the cracking etc.,
Hope you find my answers useful.
Comment by Jayashree — March 15, 2006 @ 1:18 pm
Another request, I was browsing your website and noticed your post on not using non-stick utensils.
I would be very interested in knowing your opinion on what kind of utensils (pots, pans etc) are more suitable for the kind of indian dishes you make.
I find myself making very similar dishes.. vegetarian, lots of veggies and lentils.
Indira replies:
Hi Jayashree,
I don’t use nonstick pots and pans anymore because of health reasons.
I replaced them with 18/10 stainless steel set. All the vessels in this set have thick bottom and 18/10 quality is super for stainless steel vessels. I also have two very well seasoned cast iron skillets. I use them for regular saute type curries (without gravy). For gravy ones, I use the stainless steel pans.
Comment by Jayashree — March 15, 2006 @ 1:20 pm
Hi Indira,
I’ve also read somewhere non stick pans are not good for health.Even I was wondering what vessels we should use for our styule of cooking.Your comment really helps me too.May I ask you this 18/10 stainless steel is available in all local grocery store?Do you have a particular brand name?
Indira replies:
Hi Annita, almost all majot department stores, and warehouse shops like costco and samsclub carries 18/10 stainless steel sets. But they are expensive. If you don’t need a set, buy individual pieces, you can choose sizes and shapes according to your need and also costs less. Yry ‘bed bath beyond’ or ‘target’ etc., Mine, I bought them almost 6 years ago, on a sale from a website -“Mercata”. That brand stopped production, now. Brands may be different, but almost, they are all made in China, so the quality is same.:)
I hope you find this information helpful.
Comment by Annita — March 15, 2006 @ 3:03 pm
I came to know of your blog just a few moments ago. Mostly with compliments on the excellent photographs you take and post. Makes reading recipes an enthusiastic joy. Hats off to you.
Looking and drooling at all things ‘desi’, you have inspired me to think about posting food related stuff on my blog – for the stuff that really catches my fancy. [It’s a different matter that issues related to the midrif girth may not allow me to consume the stuff!!!:-)]
Compliments to you for the content and to Vijay for the customizations.
Also, only yesterday I was talking about the use of ‘pre-seasoned’ cast iron utensils such as pots and skillets. What a coincidence!! Apparently, the restaurant chain ‘Cracker Barrel’sell ‘Lodge-Logic’ pre-seasoned cast iron stuff, which my american friends simply swear by.
[PS: Not being able to preview my comment, I hope the url link for ‘Cracker Barrel’ comes through ok]
Indira replies:
Thanks RJ!
I agree, for cooking, nothing beats cast iron stuff. I checked the link, you posted, the prices are not that bad.
Comment by RJ — March 15, 2006 @ 3:05 pm
Ahhh, Indira, you are killing me here with these “sweet” pictures – pun fully intended 🙂 🙂
I am in denial about my sweet tooth also, but the unsavory truth has a way of surfacing 🙂 [oh boy, another pun!!!]
As usual, spectacular pictures and post. Even a novice will be able to make burfi with your step-by-step instructions.
I love your idea of inverting the pan to get the perfect shape for burfis. Can’t wait for the rest of your series
cheers!
Comment by Saffron Hut — March 15, 2006 @ 3:48 pm
Hi, me again,
these days, I buy a phillipine brand of shredded coconut from the freezer section of my produce market. I believe the brand is “Rosan”. It is wonderful…sweet and fresh shredded coconut. Have you seen/tried it?
Indira replies:
Hi SF, Are you saying that you can get fresh shredded coconut from you regular US grocery shop? Lucky you! Grocery shops here in my small town, don’t carry too ethnic stuff like these. Thanks for sharing the information. I’m writing down the name of the brand, so that I can buy it in my next out of town shopping trip. Thanks!
Comment by Saffron Hut — March 15, 2006 @ 3:50 pm
hi indira,
do you always use the mandolin for scrapping coconut ? even in andhra ? in kerala, we use the ‘chirava,’ which has an iron tongue set into a wooden seat. now, table-top chirava-s are also available. there is one model which can be hand-rotated even.
what is the traditional means of scrapping coconuts in andhra ?
Indira replies:
This is what we use to grate coconut back at our home in Andhra and here. My mom also uses the hand-rotated one sometimes and I don’t have the hand-rotated one here with me. ‘Chivara” – I’ve seen it at some of friends homes back in Andhra. We use all kinds of things to grate coconut in Andhra, just like you folks in Kerala.:)
Comment by renu — March 15, 2006 @ 3:59 pm
Wow, this is really delicious looking. We have something similar in the philippines, but we don’t normally have cardammon, so I’m looking forward to trying this out!
Comment by Beastlysum — March 15, 2006 @ 4:00 pm
Thansk for the explanation and the new pic, Indira! That helps! 🙂
Comment by Kay — March 15, 2006 @ 4:16 pm
Indira:
I have real sweet tooth, this coconut burfi makes me drool.
Indira replies:
Very tempting, I know.:)
Comment by Karthi Kannan — March 15, 2006 @ 4:17 pm
Hi Indra,
I’m not a blogger but love to cook and your blog is superb no doubt at all.I saw your coconut burfi and just wanted to try for sure but i didn’t found nearby any fresh coconut so can i used the dessicated coconut(the one came in packets)instead of fresh one and how much i’ve to use rather than 2 cups.Hope u reply me,and thanks for your great blog.
Indira replies:
Hi Samreen, dry coconut.. your guess is as good as mine, I’ve never made burfi with dry coconut before, so I can’t give you any tips about that. Sorry.
Comment by Samreen — March 15, 2006 @ 5:50 pm
I’ve stopped grating coconut but when I did, I used a coconut scraper. Now, I buy frozen grated coconut, like Saffron Hut does.
Indira replies:
I don’t have that one but it’s the best out there to grate coconut, very easy and convenient.
Believe it or not, I’ve never bought frozen grated coconut. Until recently I wasn’t even aware that Indian stores sell frozen grated coconut. Few months ago, someone wrote a comment about frozen grated coconut. That’s how I found about it.:)
Comment by Manisha — March 15, 2006 @ 9:03 pm
Yummy looking burfi Indira. I can never get the syrup to the right consistency and I end up making laddos and not burfi squares. 🙂
Indira replies:
Thanks Santhi.
I know, sometimes it happens to me also, and I blame it on weather, high humidity etc., 🙂
Comment by Santhi — March 16, 2006 @ 10:00 am
[…] A lovely recipe for Coconut Burfi from Mahanandi […]
Pingback by BeastlySum | Blog » Blog Archive » Friday Roundup — March 17, 2006 @ 8:15 am
Hi Indira
I learnt about your site from my SIL. Amazing site with great recipes.
I am a Banglorean settled in Hyderabad. I am a newly married girl learning ABC of cooking!!!! The KOBBRI MITTAI was the first recipe I tried from your website. And it was just too yummy.
Even my hubby happily relished on the sweet.
I have a doubt.How do u make it in right consistency? What is ratio (ie, how many cups Sugar and water) for just one cup grated coconut? OR Does adding more water make the Burfi a laddo -like or Halwa-like? I actually wanted it in diamond shaped pieces? ( Mine was a coconut Halwa, but it tasted good)
Thanks to you for making it so illustrative and easy. I will keep trying your other dishes too.
Good Day!!!
Comment by Srilakshmi — March 22, 2006 @ 3:50 am
Thank you so much indira garu for the recipe.Photos are very nice.
Comment by vani — August 29, 2006 @ 1:03 pm
Thank you so much indira garu for the recipe.Photos are very nice and tempting.Generally i use preeti mixie for grating coconut. just put the piecies and inch it for 2 minutes and you will get grated coconut
Comment by vani — August 29, 2006 @ 1:26 pm
hello indira. i have a doubt – in ur ingredients, u have mentioned ‘half glass of water’, now, is this the same as half cup of water?. i made this sweet with 1/2 cup water & when i added the coconut it seemed like a thick mass straight away, didn’t have to wait ’10-15mins’. am not good at cooking – as is apparent from my doubt :), hence would appreciate ur reply.
Comment by Nithya — December 7, 2006 @ 10:02 am
hey ,that looks cool .. iam going try this week end .
thank you
Comment by sukanya — March 7, 2007 @ 6:42 am
hey i tried it……..
it was good;
Comment by gayathri — March 22, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
Hi Indira,
Yummy coconut burfi. And i do tried it. It has come very nice.Except the shape.(hahaha…) Wonderful website you have.
Comment by Anuradha — April 14, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
Hi Indira,
I noticed that your pictures of coconut burfi have been posted by someone on one of the bit torrent sites…I hope you take the required measures to stop this.
Comment by soumya — April 17, 2007 @ 3:12 pm
hi…the coconut burfi recipe is very nice and very easy to make…ur way of explaining the method makes it appear very easy..thanks a lot!
Comment by meena — May 3, 2007 @ 4:14 am
Hi ,
This looks awesome.I tried but i believe i didn’t remove at propertime..it became like dry sweets coconut flakes.Can this be corrected by adding more water
Comment by chinmayi Anantha — May 23, 2007 @ 4:55 pm
Thanks it is really worderful but it will be more tasty if you add milkmate or milk or cream in it.
Comment by Meena Mehta — September 5, 2007 @ 4:33 am
Hi, Can I use dry grated coconut instead of freshly grated coconut?
Comment by jyotsna — September 10, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
Hi,
The recipe is a classic!! I always chop up the coconut and run it in the chutney jar of the mixer to make a coarse powder. It cooks easily and the burfis also hold well. Its a gr8 sweet although high in calories 🙂
Keep posting more recipes..
Comment by sweet-tooth — September 13, 2007 @ 10:24 pm
The cocunut burfi recipe is excellent. No words to express. Today i have prepared as per u r explanation. It turned out very nice. I think your explanation made easy for me. Thank u very much.
Comment by chidambari — October 26, 2007 @ 6:58 am
Hi,
the recipe is very good . I was searching for this type of recipe but one thing i want to know the burfee is bit hard,how to make it little moist
Comment by Lata Khanna — November 3, 2007 @ 7:14 am
Hi Indira,
Yummy!!! Your coconut burfi looks great!! I am gonna prepare it today..
Thanks a ton for the recipe..
Comment by Pushpa — December 21, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
hi indira,
happy new year!!
i saw ur blog just a week back just while browsing..and now i am a big fan of urs. i love the way u cook ..and the photographs…wooowww!!!
even i am interested in cooking and always look in for new veg recipes ..
now after looking at ur blog(most important is the photos) i am interested much more in cooking…i sometimes think that can a dish be sooo beautifully presented!! wow hats off to you for that food presentations.
🙂
i would love to try out all ur recipes ..but i am in stockholm..and the problem here is that i dont get our indian stuff particularly our south indian stuff
Comment by arathishankar — January 9, 2008 @ 3:35 am
Yummy!!! Your coconut burfi looks great!! I am gonna prepare it today..
Thanks a ton for the recipe..
Comment by Lubna Karim — June 5, 2008 @ 2:30 am
Got this site from Google results for Coconut barfi – making this for Diwali – lets hope it comes out well !!
Comment by Savi — October 9, 2009 @ 9:37 am
Hi since i am new to cooking was searching in google for coconut burfi and had come across your website , i made the burfi according to ue directions and wow burfi came out so well by end of the day there were no sweets remaining .Thanks for posting the receipe
Comment by abie — March 10, 2010 @ 5:34 am
Hi,
a very easy & simple Recipe.
It was so appealing…
Comment by Pooja — May 27, 2010 @ 7:04 am
[…] Ordiniamo..per me Vegetables Samosa (paste triangolari fritte imbottite di verdure), Pulao Verdure (riso basmati con verdure fresche stufate e frutta secca), Peshwari Naan (focaccine di frutta secca) e Nariel Barfi (torta di cocco).. […]
Pingback by Titolo di prova » Al ristorante Rangoli — July 2, 2010 @ 7:47 am
hey can i make it with the fine grated coconut packet u get in patel brothers.
Comment by Sangeeta — September 15, 2010 @ 12:48 pm
The burfi turned out so good !! Was searching for a good one for sometime. This one’s a keeper. Thank you Indira. Forgot to mention I used the frozen grated coconut, thawed it completely to room temperature before adding it.
Comment by Munni — January 10, 2011 @ 4:24 pm
Kobari with cardamom and sugar is yummy!
Comment by Deepa — March 2, 2011 @ 1:33 am
hey i made the dish for the first time,, it turned out really well,,i am very with the response of my family and friends…
thank u so much for recipe with such clear picture and procedure… May god bless u.
Comment by shilpa deol — September 29, 2011 @ 4:11 am
typo in my earlier message
hey i made the dish for the first time,, it turned out really well,,i am very “HAPPY” with the response of my family and friends…
thank u so much for recipe with such clear picture and procedure… May god bless u.
Comment by shilpa deol — September 29, 2011 @ 4:13 am
Thanks for posting. My son has milk allergies and I am thrilled to find a recipe for dessert that he can eat. Thank you!!!
Comment by Savita — October 1, 2011 @ 5:53 pm
this sweet i done,it is lovely.thnks to u. this web site is very helpful to our andhra people, i m from nandyal it self, near tekke our house.pl add some more nutrisious foods.
Comment by LAKASHMI — April 5, 2012 @ 4:42 am
[…] Re: Virtual Feast – Comments Manju – I made this using the grated coconut I get in stores here. It didn’t have the brown stuff there, don’t know if they do something. It looked like it was shredded in some machine. I didnt do anything else. Just followed the recipe from here Mahanandi » Coconut Burfi (Kobbari Paakam, Kobbari Lauju) Originally Posted by manjubashini Anjana ur coconut burfis glows like bleach white how do manintain this can u share it i am eager ……… […]
Pingback by Virtual Feast - Comments - Page 506 - IndusLadies — January 22, 2013 @ 7:47 am
It Was an Amazing Tip .. Its very useful for me..
Thank You So much fr sharing this useful tip..
Comment by Arjita Singh — January 24, 2019 @ 7:58 am
Great Post by Admin.. Thanks for Share .
Comment by Holi Quotes — March 17, 2019 @ 12:15 pm