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
- â…“ 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.Â
- 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.
- You can use non-fat or full-fat dry milk powder in this recipe. I have used this brand as well as this brand. I’ve also used the brand Village Farms from Wegmans. You can also find dry milk powder at Indian grocery stores as well as most grocery stores.
- 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.
Ardi Shukla says
Loved it! This was so easy and quick and I was never able to get the texture like this before. Thank you!!!
I have a couple of questions-
1. I personally like less sweet desserts so how should I reduce the sugar and water ratio to make this less sweet? Or should I add more milk powder to reduce the sweetness?
2. How can I use this recipe to make a pistachio burfi?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Ardi, I’m so glad you loved this! Happy to hear that 🙂 I haven’t tried altering the ratios so I’m not sure how it’ll turn out, but if I were going to choose between reducing sugar or adding more milk powder I’d probably go the milk powder route. If you adjust the sugar ratio, it could affect the consistency of the sugar syrup. As for pistachio burfi, you can try mixing in some pistachio powder – that sounds like it’d be delicious – please let me know how it goes if you experiment!
Ardi Shukla says
Thank you for writing back, Ashley! I appreciate it. I am going to definitely give the pistachio burfi a try and let you know the results. I am sure it will turn out great with this fantastic base recipe. Thank you once again!
Love
Ardi
Rajinder Nagi says
Hi Ashley, I followed the instructions and recipe but as soon as I added ghee and milk powder, it got very thick, mixed it but then the ghee got separated, had to drain the ghee.
It did set but was a bit hard, tasted fine…. mixture wasn’t soft and runny like in the video…..don’t know what I did wrong.
Vesan burfi turned out perfect!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi! Hmm, it sounds like perhaps the mixing took too long and it hardened? It’s hard to know for sure but that would be my guess. Did you wait a bit before adding the milk powder and ghee by chance?
Govind Rangrass says
Absolutely fantastic!!!!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Govind, so glad you liked the milk burfi! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
swagata says
Okay…it was a little difficult to find the milk powder (pandemic and all), but once I had this ingredient, this recipe came together very easily and quickly, and was SO yummy. Definitely a winner at my house, and will definitely make again!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Swagata, I’m glad you found the ingredients and made this! Happy to hear that you liked it 🙂
Monika says
Looks really good Ashley. Do you have the instapot off or on sauté after step # 4 ?
Thanks
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Monika! I don’t turn on sauté. Let me know what you think if you make this!
Jay says
Just a suggestion. You may want to add a note that if it appears the end product comes out wet then try to use extra dry powder or saute it before spreading it in a tray. You have a similar note in your recipe for kalakand. Thanks.
Shakila Sheik says
Can i use a normal non stick pan to make this? what adjustments do i need to do if cooking this in a normal non-stick pan? what should the sugar water consistency be? single thread?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Shakila, I’ve only tried this in an instant pot, but if you try it on the stovetop, please let us know how it goes!
Asha says
I will definitely try this recipe! Nothing better than Indian sweets. Any chance you might be working on a recipe for Mysore Pak?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Asha, let me know what you think if you try! That’s on my list of recipes to try!
Sangeeta says
Hi Ashley,
I used a 6 quart. Got a burn signal before it reached pressure. I waited it the burn signal wouldn’t go away.
Please help.
Thanks,
Sangeeta
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Sangeeta, I’m sorry to hear that! Was the seal on securely and was the valve closed? Did you wait a few minutes for the burn sign to go away? I’m not sure why this happened – please let me know if you try it again.