Barfi

A dense, fudge-like sweet from the Indian subcontinent, usually made from milk cooked down with sugar and cut into squares or diamonds.

Barfi: Diamond-shaped pieces of milk barfi topped with silver leaf and chopped pistachios
  • Chocolate, sugar and confectionery
  • India

Also called: barfee, borfee, borfi, burfee, burfi

Classic barfi is made from khoa, milk simmered for a long time until it becomes a thick, soft solid, cooked again with sugar and flavored with cardamom, saffron or rose. The mixture is spread in a tray, left to set and cut into pieces, often decorated with pistachios or a thin edible silver leaf.

There are many varieties, including coconut barfi, chickpea flour barfi and kaju katli, made from ground cashews. Barfi is exchanged as gifts and offered at festivals such as Diwali.

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Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Indian Sweets (course notes), Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur (course notes)