Mughal North Indian dried fig and cardamom milk-solid sweet with silver leaf and pistachios
Origin: Mughal North India (Uttar Pradesh and the Deccan Plateau)
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Barfi (from the Persian word for snow, barf, a reference to the sweet's pale, smooth, compressed surface) is the broad category of milk-solid confections made across the Indian subcontinent by cooking khoya (mawa, milk reduced by long evaporation to a dense, slightly granular solid) with sugar, flavourings, and various additions until the mixture stiffens and can be shaped and cut. The category is vast: every region has its own canonical barfi, its preferred additions, its own finishing. Anjeer ki barfi, fig barfi, is the form most closely associated with Mughal North India and with the festival confectionery tradition of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and the Deccan Plateau. The recipe's Mughal heritage is evident in its aromatics: the combination of dried fig (anjeer, the Persian word), green cardamom, and rosewater is the characteristic spice palette of Persian court cooking, carried south and east into India by the Mughal nobility and their kitchens. Babur, the first Mughal emperor, wrote in the Baburnama of his longing for the fruits of his Central Asian homeland; the anjeer that arrived in India through trade was among those substitutes, prized for its concentrated sweetness and its long shelf-life when dried. The Mughal court kitchens (the royal karkhana) were extraordinarily sophisticated operations, employing hundreds of cooks, confectioners, and specialists, and the barfi tradition that they formalised became one of the defining contributions of the Mughal period to South Asian food culture. Anjeer ki barfi is made and sold at festivals (Diwali, Eid), at weddings and engagements, and at milad celebrations; it is given as a ceremonial gift and offered as a hospitality sweet in the mithai shop tradition that runs unbroken from the Mughal karkhana to the present-day sweetmeat sellers of Old Delhi and Lucknow.
Khoya (also called mawa or khoa) is available from South Asian grocery shops in the refrigerated section, often sold in blocks. If unavailable, it can be made at home by simmering two litres of whole milk in a heavy pan over low heat for approximately 90 minutes, stirring frequently, until reduced to a thick, solid mass. Dried milk powder is not an acceptable substitute: the flavour and texture are quite different. The barfi keeps well, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to one week; bring to room temperature before serving, as cold stiffens the texture considerably. The silver leaf (varak) is entirely optional: it adds visual festivity appropriate to ceremonial presentation but has no flavour. It is available from South Asian sweet shops and some speciality food suppliers. The sweetness of dried figs varies considerably by variety and age; taste the mixture before adding the full quantity of sugar and adjust accordingly.
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