THE FESTIVAL OF FARAL by Surekha Chandrasekhar

FARAL
It is Diwali time and the festival of lights and sweets. We are all excited about the homecoming of Prabhu Sriram along with Sita Mata after fourteen years of exile. The thoughts of lights have already happened days before the festival. We are ready to welcome Lord Sriram with lights, and hearts full of joy.

All celebrations are kickstarted in the kitchen first by the main foodies of the home. I am no exception. In Maharashtra, Diwali is a festival of Farals. Farals is an assorted snack consisting of savories like Chakli, Chivdada, and sweets like laddus, sankarpali, and chirotee and Karanji. These are made in large quantities and distributed among friends and families.

Every Diwali a close family friend Mrs. Jyoti Davane brings me the best and yummiest faral she makes with lots of love. She is a great expert in making Maharashtrian food and loves cooking. I am truly blessed to have this pious family of Davanes in my life. Diwali faral is only the tip of an iceberg of her kindness. I am a recipient of immeasurable kindness from the Davane family many times. Especially I cannot forget the healing touch of her soups, moong dal khichadi, and prayers which nurtured me back to health during a difficult time. Jai Sri Hari. Difficult times teach us to see God in our fellow beings through their acts of kindness. As I write this I am eagerly waiting for Diwali faral from Mrs. Davane which is coming today.

This year I also made some of the faral at home as a part of the make-at-home resolution. If we know the basics a lot of festival food can be made at home. This helps in beating inflation as well.

Among my collection of festival foods, today I am sharing this Barfi recipe which is a new invention. I have no prior experience of making barfis. This barfi just happened and it turned out amazing.

So here is a signature Barfi made for all of you with tons of Love.

Chocolate Coconut Barfi
If you know the basics, this recipe is very easy to make. I made it with a few ingredients which were already there with me.

50 gm Dark Chocolate (Morde)

3 cups Desiccated coconut

2 cups of milk

3 tablespoons condensed milk

tablespoons of milk powder

1 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons ghee

1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional)

Take a non-stick pan. Keep on slow flame. Add the milk. Add milk powder in small quantities and mix well without lumps. Add sugar and vanilla essence. Simmer till the milk is almost half its quantity on slow flame.

Keep the chocolate for melting at the same time with the double boiling method. Scrap the chocolate, take in a vessel and keep it floating on top of boiling water in a bigger vessel for melting This method is called double boiling. Stir the chocolate till it melts completely.

When the milk is sufficiently reduced add the coconut. Add 2 teaspoons of ghee stir and blend well.

The coconut will absorb the milk. At this point, little more ghee and stir well. The mixture will leave the sides of the pan and slowly become a soft dough which is like the laddu consistency. Take off the flame. Transfer the contents to a square tin lined with butter paper. Pat well.

Pour the melted chocolate above the coconut mixture. Keep the contents for cooling till the chocolate is well set. Cut them into squares. Your delicious homemade chocolate coconut burfi is ready to eat and serve. I must confess the barfi was a big hit and my kids appreciated it a lot. J

Happy Diwali and Happy New Year to all of you . Jai Sri Hari 🙂