This is the easiest way to make milk burfi, a milky fudge-like treat, perfect for any festive celebration.
Milk burfi, or milk powder burfi, is a dense milk fudge made with a handful of ingredients. It’s effortless to make in an instant pot; it’s basically a pour and cook recipe.
What is milk burfi?
There are many types of milk-based Indian desserts. This recipe is for milk burfi, also known as milk powder burfi.
My recipe is made with less than 5 ingredients and comes together quickly, thanks to the instant pot. You need dry milk powder, sugar, ghee, and cardamom to make this milk fudge. I like to garnish with pistachio, but that’s optional.
How is this milk powder burfi different from kalakand?
I know that I recently shared a recipe for kalakand, and these two recipes look pretty similar, but the texture is totally different.
Kalakand is very soft, while this burfi is dense. Just look at the texture of this burfi – see how it breaks?
I wasn’t planning to share two milk-based sweets so close together, but since I had this recipe ready to go, I thought it might be nice for those of us who, well, love sweets, lol.
Milk burfi wasn’t even on my list of things to make for the blog this year. I came up with the recipe by mistake. Some of my best recipes tend to come about that way (my popular 2-ingredient cheesecake was actually a failed attempt at egg-free flan).
Anyway, at first, I was disappointed that whatever I had made wasn’t what I was trying to make (which was kalakand), but then I took a bite and realized I had accidentally made milk burfi. 😂
Here’s how to make milk burfi:
First, we’re going to make a sugar syrup: mix sugar and water together and pressure cook.
Remove the lid and add ghee, milk powder, and cardamom and mix really fast and really well.
Pour the thick mixture into an 8×8 pan (you’ll need a spoon to scoop the mixture out of the pot and into the pan), and garnish with pistachios.
Refrigerate for an hour, then slice the mithai. If you eat the mithai at this point, it’ll be chewy. You need to put the mithai on a platter to air-dry on the counter for a day. This completely changes the texture of the burfi.
Once it’s dry, you can store it in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to a week, if it lasts that long.
Let me know what you think!
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar approx. 200 g
- ⅓ cup water approx. 2.8 oz
- ½ cup ghee approx. 4 oz
- 2 cups dry milk powder approx. 200 grams
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom*
- 1 tablespoon raw unroasted and unsalted green pistachios, chopped
Instructions
- Add the sugar and water to the pot and mix well.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve, and cook for 11 minutes at high pressure.
- Quick-release pressure.
- Add ghee, milk powder, and cardamom to the pot and quickly mix (using either a spoon or a whisk) until well combined. You may want to wear a glove to hold onto the hot pot as you stir - you will need to be fast!
- Pour the mixture into a parchment-lined 8×8 pan/dish (you'll need a spoon to scoop the mixture out of the pot and into the pan). Shake the pan gently so that the mixture spreads evenly. Sprinkle the chopped green pistachios on top and gently shake the pan again to help them stick.
- Let the milk burfi cool down (on a wire rack - takes about 30 to 40 minutes), then put it in the fridge for 1 hour to set.
- Remove the chilled fudge, slice it into medium-sized squares, and then place the individual pieces on a plate. If you eat the mithai at this point, it will be chewy. Let the fudge sit out at room temperature for 24 hours to dry out. This will completely change the texture of the burfi - make sure to give it time to dry out!
- After it’s dry, you can store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for about a week. I prefer to eat this mithai at room temperature.
Video
Notes
- When this burfi is cold, it’s glossy, smooth, and chewy. You have to give it 24 hours to dry out - then it’ll change to a matte appearance and will turn into dense burfi.
- Freshly ground cardamom powder is much more aromatic and flavorful than store-bought. I highly suggest grinding your own for this recipe (and for any Indian dessert recipe). Grind your own by removing the green shell and grinding the black seeds inside. I have and love this electric spice grinder if you’re looking for a recommendation.
- Important: All of the recipes on my blog are tested using a 6 quart instant pot – I have not tested this recipe in a different sized pot. I don't know if this recipe will work in a 3 quart or 8 quart as the surface area is different and will affect the temperature of the sugar syrup. I suggest only using a 6 quart for this recipe.
Nivea says
Such a tasty milk burfi recipe …. highly recommend
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Nivea! Glad you liked the burfi 🙂
Pratibha says
I’ve tried this milk barfi in my new instant pot. It’s a foolproof recipe and comes out amazing each time. It’s my family’s favorite now and I have to make it every week. I just changed the sugar quantity as wanted to make it less sweet. All the steps and recipe is super easy and wonderful. Thank you so much Ashley ❤️
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Pratibha, that’s awesome! Happy to hear that this milk burfi has become a family favorite!
Matt says
Looks great. What camera and lens do you use for the pictures?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Matt, I have a video/photo company that handles most of my photography needs these days, but for the ones I take, I use a GH4.
Jeanett says
Hi! And Happy New Year! I saw this recipe and really wanted to try it, since I have had my IP for almost a year now, and have not used it too much. So, firstly, I am not at all familiar with Indian cuisine, so I don’t have anything to compare this recipe OR this food to. I read through ALL of the comments, and ended up being a little intimidated by the problem of the sugar water seizing, or burning, like several people commented about. I have a 6 quart IP, so I bought a 3 quart nonstick pot liner, to use as a pot-in-pot. That’s how I did my sugar water step, I just put about a cup of water in the actual 6 quart liner, put in the trivet/sling thing, used hot water to stir into my sugar in the 3 quart liner, using a little more than 1/3 cup, not quite 1/2 cup, remembering the comments above. So while that was cooking for the 11 minutes, I melted my ghee in the microwave, and had my 2 cups of milk powder (I used non-fat) with the cardamom (not freshly grated though) in with the milk powder, ready to go in a 2 cup measuring cup. So everything was ready and waiting, I had prepared my parchment paper in my dish before ANY of that, crushed my pistachios, everything was ready! The IP beeps, I do the QR, open it, and everything looks good (well, it’s just sugar water!), I quickly pour in the melted ghee, stir some, then dump all (!) of the milk powder stuff in, whisk it, so far so good (!), pour it into the prepared dish, sprinkle on the nuts, bam! Done! No problems, no issues, it’s cooling on the counter right now, and then I will proceed! I tasted the spoon, and it tasted super yummy, so, I think it was a success! Like I said, I wouldn’t know if the consistency was correct, never having eaten this before, but, I would never know if it came out “wrong”! So ALL of that, to say, to you, and also to anyone else wanting to try this recipe: It’s a GREAT recipe! You should try it!!!
My Heart Beets says
Thank you Jeanett! I’m so glad you tried this! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Rita Orange says
Such a great recipe and so glad I stumbled across your facebook group. Instant pot hasn’t quite got the same following in Australia but I use the 5.7L crockpot and it works every time. Love how easy the recipes are using standard ingredients already in my pantry. Thanks so much for sharing your passion for cooking with us.
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Rita! Wow, great to know you were able to adapt this to a crockpot recipe! Do you mind sharing how you did this? I’m sure it’d help other readers 🙂
Rita Orange says
Crock-pot is a multi cooker brand in Australia, very similar functions to instapot, so i jus use the pressure cooker function for your recipes, haven’t had a fail yet
Parv says
Hi I havent tried your recipe but follow a very similar one for Barfi. I dont use water or milk but milk powder too. However, most barfi recipes call for milk powder and milk. Have you tried using both do you know what difference it makes? Thanks
My Heart Beets says
I’ve only tried this recipe as written, but if you experiment, please let us know how it goes!
Rinku Puri says
Hi can I ask what milk powder everyone is using?as I can only get skimmed milk powder not full fat.
My Heart Beets says
Hi Rinku, both work 🙂
T says
My IP said burn when I set it to manual pressure 11 minutes. So I did a quick release and the pot wasn’t burnt. So I added the rest of the ingredients but my burfi wasn’t as loose as the video. Lots of ghee left behind. I didn’t add it to the on though, not all of it. You think it’s still ok?
My Heart Beets says
Hi, next time if it says burn, I would wait a few minutes to see if it goes away on its own. Did the burfi seem thicken when you put it into a pan? If so, it should set. Please let me know what happens!
Neelima says
Hi Ashley,
Tried your wonderful recipe today and the output was amazing .. enjoying yummy desert on this Friday. Thanks tons 👍😍
My Heart Beets says
Hi Neelima, that’s so great! Thank you for letting me know how the burfi turned out 🙂
Neha says
Hi Ashley,
Loved the recipe! So simple and delicious. Just wondering if this can be frozen?
My Heart Beets says
Happy to hear that, Neha! I haven’t tried freezing this burfi but have frozen other types in the past – I don’t see why not 🙂