Recipe - Oats Coconut Barfi

 

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to my page. I hope 2021 is up to a great start for all of you. It sure is for me and I am taking full advantage of every positive thing going on in my life right now. January starts with a change in the season moving into longer days and the end of the Winter Solstice in India. It brings with it the first festival of the year - Makar Sankranti. This festival is celebrated to welcome the warmer days and is also celebrated for the winter harvest across the country, thanking the gods for all the food and goodness that is bestowed on us. 

For me Makar Sankranti was one of the big festivals we celebrated back home. My mom made Ellu Bella (sesame and jaggery brittle), Sakkare Acchu (Sugar syrup figurines) and Pongal along with many other dishes to celebrate this day! I so wish I could make the Sakkare Acchu this time for 2021 celebrations, but without the cast and the knowledge I didn't want to commit to it. Hopefully in 2022. So while Pongal and a few other delicacies are definitely on the menu for tomorrow, I wanted to make one easy quick sweet treat for Sankaranti. Now it is not the traditional sesame and peanut based sweet dish but it sure is a perfect festive treat! 

This Oats Coconut Barfi is perfect if you are looking for a healthier sweet treat (albeit only marginally) around festival time. This barfi can also substitute for a great energy bar on other days. It has copious amounts of dry fruits and nuts which gives this a delicious fudgy consistency! This sweet dish is easily customizable and is vegan too! The whole process takes about 30-40 minutes and is ready to serve in a couple of hours. It stays good in the fridge for about a week although I am pretty sure it will disappear long before that! 

If you try this or any other recipe of mine, please leave a comment below or on any of my social media handles. It will mean a lot to me. Thank you!

Oats Coconut Barfi - Recipe

(Makes 25 Squares)

Ingredients:

2 cups of rolled oats or 2.5 cups oats flour

1/2 cup shredded dry coconut

3/4 cup Jaggery or gud

7-8 mejdool dates finely chopped

7-8 dry figs finely chopped

3 tablespoons of sliced almonds (You can instead use chopped cashews or pecans too)

2 teaspoon coconut oil

3-4 pods cardamom peeled and powdered

1/2 cup water

In a large pan, add the rolled oats and roast for 4-5 minutes. It should change color slightly (turn a shade brown). Switch off the stove and set aside the oats in a separate bowl. Once it cools down to room temperature, add it into a blender or mixer and pulse till it turns into fine powder. If using oat flour, you can skip this step. 

Grease a plate or a cake pan with some coconut oil and set aside. Now place the same pan back on the stove and add the water and the jaggery. On medium heat, let the liquid come to a boil till all the jaggery melts. Turn off the stove and sieve the jaggery mixture. Add the filtered liquid back into the pan. 

Let the jaggery mixture come to a boil on medium heat. This will take about 7-8 minutes. As the liquid thickens, you will notice a string like consistency of the jaggery mixture when you pour it or cool it down and touch stretch the liquid between your fingers. Once at this stage, keep all the other ingredients ready as you will need to move quickly. 

First lower the flame to a low and add the coconut oil into the jaggery mixture and stir till it melts. Then start adding the oat flour and the shredded coconut in parts and keep stirring continuously. The mixture may tighten but keep stirring so that the flour cooks in the jaggery liquid and heat. Repeat this process for the entire flour (You may need to add lesser than the measurements depending on the final consistency) The consistency should resemble a thick fudge. Now turn off the stove and add the remaining ingredients  - dates, figs, almonds and cardamom. Mix well till everything is incorporated. 

Now while the mixture is warm, pour it into the greased pan or plate and using a rubber spatula, spread it evenly into the pan. Top it with additional almonds or chopped nuts if needed and press gently with the spatula. Now using a paring or butter knife, cut the fudge into squares (I used a cake pan and made 4 rows and columns across the entire pan, yielding 25 small squares). Set aside to cool for about 2-3 hours. Once set, you can pull out the individual pieces and store it in an airtight container. This tastes better the next day as the ingredients rest overnight. Serve at room temperature.