Chocolate burfi is milky, chocolatey (of course), and spiced with cardamom. An Indian dessert with flavor that’s both sophisticated and classic, making it a hit with adults and kids too! The best part? This recipe is quick and easy to make and calls for only a handful of ingredients.
Chocolate Burfi
It’s the festive season, and Diwali is right around the corner! I recently shared a recipe for Mango Kalakand on the blog, and now I’m sharing a recipe that I’ve been working on for quite a few Diwali seasons. It was never quite right… until now. Introducing… the easiest and, dare I say, best… Chocolate Burfi!
This Indian chocolate fudge tastes nothing like… well, actual Fudge (for which I also have an excellent recipe). Now don’t come after me, but… traditional fudge is good and all; it’s just very one-note. But this Indian chocolate burfi is on a different level and has far more depth in flavor: it’s chocolatey, milky, and has a hint of cardamom. It’s also a completely different texture than fudge – this chocolate burfi is more crumbly and dry in texture (as it should be) rather than moist and soft.
This is a twist on the more traditional chocolate burfi, which is typically made up of two layers – a white milky layer and then a chocolate layer on top. Rather than fussing around with layers – I’ve made an entirely chocolate burfi, not only is it easier to make but there’s more chocolatey flavor, which is really what you want when you’re eating choco burfi. You still get that milky flavor too – thanks to the milk powder.
Chocolate Burfi Ingredients:
- Dry Milk Powder
- Cocoa Powder
- Sugar
- Ghee: room temp, solid or liquid is fine
- Cardamom: freshly ground!
- Mini Chocolate Chips: or topping of choice.
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Is this a Traditional Recipe for Chocolate Burfi?
As I mentioned above, the chocolate burfi you’ll find in Mithai shops or Indian grocery stores is most likely going to be a two-toned layered burfi. The bottom is a milky white layer and the top is a chocolatey layer. You can technically make this if you want by first making my Milk Burfi recipe and then making this chocolate burfi and pouring it on top of the cooled milk burfi to set. I’ve tried this, and it’s good, but this simpler chocolate burfi is easier to make and has more of that desired chocolatey flavor. (If you decide to go with the two-toned option though then be sure to use a larger pan to set the burfi so it’s not too thick).
So yes, my preference is to keep things simple with a fully chocolate burfi. I think it’s more appealing for kids too. It’s a huge hit in our house – my most popular burfi amongst my little boys (excuse me, according to them “big boys”) to date. I once made this along with a batch of brownies for a get together and my 3-year-old only wanted burfi.
What Can I Add to Chocolate Burfi?
I love using mini chocolate chips! But I bet mini m&ms would be really cute too. I might try that for Christmas. Nuts are also a popular choice when it comes to burfi. Feel free to mix in your choice of toppings into the burfi batter if you’d like!
- Chocolate Chips
- M&Ms
- Nuts! Pistachios, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Sliced Almonds
How Do I Store and Eat Chocolate Burfi?
I store the chocolate burfi in an air-tight container on the counter for a week. But you can store it in the fridge too. If I want to store it for a while, then I’ll put it in the freezer. Just be sure to bring it to room temp before eating.
Enjoy this burfi! Let me know what you think of it! 🙂
More Burfi Recipes:
Ingredients
- 200 grams sugar 1 cup
- 2.8 ounces water ⅓ cup
- 4 ounces ghee (room temp, solid or liquid is fine) ½ cup
- 200 grams dry milk powder 2 cups
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom*
- 2 tablespoons mini milk chocolate chips adjust amount to preference!
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.
- Add ghee, dry milk powder, cocoa powder, and cardamom to the pot and quickly mix 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 spatula to scoop the mixture out of the pot and into the pan). Shake the pan gently so that the mixture spreads evenly.
- Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips and gently shake the pan again to help them stick.
- Let the chocolate burfi cool down on a wire rack for 25 to 30 minutes, then put it in the fridge for 2 hours to set.
- Remove the chilled fudge, and slice it into medium-sized squares (I slice 5 rows by 5 rows and cut off any uneven edges). Then place the individual pieces on a plate. If you eat the mithai at this point, it will be soft and fudgy (my husband prefers it this way!). In order for it to taste more like burfi, you’ll want to let the sliced pieces sit out at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours (or overnight) to dry out. This completely changes the texture of the burfi so that it tastes more like burfi and not like fudge.
- Once dry, you can store this burfi on the counter for up to one week. I prefer to eat this mithai at room temperature (so if you store in the fridge, make sure to bring it to room temp before eating).
Notes
- For Step 4, you can mix the dry ingredients together (dry milk powder, cocoa powder, cardamom) but make sure to keep the ghee in a separate bowl!
- When this burfi is cold, it’s glossy. You have to give it 6-8 hours to dry out – then it’ll change to a matte appearance and turn into dense burfi.
- Freshly ground cardamom powder is much more aromatic and flavorful than store-bought. I highly suggest grinding your own for this recipe (and any Indian dessert recipe). Grind your own by removing the green shell and the black seeds inside. I 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.
- Do Not Double Recipe: Please do not double/triple this recipe or any other Instant Pot dessert recipe on my blog. A dessert or anything made with sugar syrup can be finicky in an Instant Pot. I have only tested this recipe as written.
Mimi says
Hello! Excited to try this out. What brand of dry milk powder did you use? Is Nido ok?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Yes, Nido works! I’ve tried many different brands over the years as a lot of my Indian desserts call for milk powder and they have all worked for me.
Shan says
Hi Ashley,
Tried this chocolate Burfee today. O God my family didn’t even let it sit for 2 hrs and gobbled it. I have to make it again to see how it tastes after 8hrs like burfee. Thank you so much for the such perfect tasty sweet.
Sindhu says
Hi Ashley,
Minor correction in your recipe ingredient measurements – for Drymilk powder it shows 2 cups instead of 1 cup. I believe its a 1:1 proportion for sugar and dry milk powder? I made the recipe without realizing and the burfi came out too dry 😀
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi, the most accurate measurement would be if you weigh the milk powder in grams – this comes out to 2 cups for me. I would make sure you are not packing it into the cup too much. Also, did you use the listed amount of ghee?
Roopa Santosh says
Made this last year and this year. Lobe it. Added a pinch of salt to intensify the chocolate taste. Thanks for the easy recipe. Happy Diwali !
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Roopa, thanks for letting me know how much you like this 🙂
Binny says
Hi Ashley,
The recipe looks easy to follow and tempting.
I just want to ask if cooking time or anything will change if I reduce the quantity of everything to half as it will be more of a trial round.
Does it make a difference if the water and sugar is boiled in a pan on stove as other than that there isn’t a role of IP here, not sure if I am missing something here.
Many thanks.
Neil says
Urgent help please. I completely messed up. I didn’t have milk powder, so I used coconut milk powder. Not by itself a disaster. But I rand out of coconut milk powder, so I topped it up with normal milk. Which is silly, because it’s only just dawns on me as the whole thing is in the fridge to set, that it will never set– correct? Because the milk hasn’t been cooked beforehand. (The batter tastes amazing though). Anything I can do to make it set? Or to somehow rescue this?
Jay says
Chocolate barfi recipe worked out just great in 3 quarts instant pot. I put it in the freezer and take out a couple of pieces, let it air for about 10 minutes and it is ready to be consumed as barfi. Great recipe just like your kalakand and cheese cake recipes. Thanks.
Anu says
I had burn signal when I used the instant pot for the water and sugar combination
Aarti Gautam says
Hello Ashley, I tried this recipe it looks solidified in refrigerator but when I tried to cut it is not solidified, and at mixture! What can be improved? Thank you
Aarti Gautam says
* not solidified and wet with difficult to cut into pieces!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Aarti, how long have you let it set? Maybe try leaving it in there a bit longer – fridge temps can vary and sometimes opening the fridge often can interfere with cooling so hopefully that’s all it is. Let me know if it ends up setting!
Deepika says
Help! Wont come to pressure and got a burn sign!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Deepika, see if the burn sign goes away on its own – it should hopefully go away and resume. Also check to make sure the silicone ring is on properly and the vent it closed. Hopefully these things help, let me know.
Divya Khanna says
Hi Ashley,
I am attempting to make this recipe this Diwali, today to be precise. 😊 The issue is I don’t have an 8×8 pan. I am planning to double the quantity. Would a 9×13 pan work ? Appreciate your input.
PS- big fan of the onion masalas. Changed my life!!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Divya, I would not double the quantity – sugar syrup is finicky, and I have only tested this recipe as written. If you use a larger pan, just push the burfi to the side so it’s only using half the pan or however much of the pan you’d like – it should be thick enough to stay. Let me know how it goes!
Divya Khanna says
Hi Ashley,
I couldn’t wait to try it so I just went ahead and hoped for the best! Lol ..
I use an 8 qt instant pot. Doubled the qty and it came out absolutely perfect! Even the 9×13 pan worked out well with double the qty. thanks for such a great recipe! Tried the mango barfi the same way as well and that came out perfect too. 😊
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Divya, that’s so great to hear! I’m glad you tested this burfi and the mango burfi too! Thank you for reporting back – this will help many readers, I’m sure!
Urvashi Mehta says
Hello!
I really wanted to make this barfi but I don’t have an instapot. I used a normal pressure cooker and tried it with that. I opened the cooker after about 10 minutes and the sugar was almost sticking to the bottom (i used brown sugar) i quickly poured in the other ingredients and found it very difficult to mix. Finally i managed to get everything mixed up but I saw that the ghee had melted and was now separated from the rest of the mixture. I scooped the mixture into my pan – it was very fudgy – and am letting it sit for a bit. I left a lot of the liquid ghee behind in the pressure cooker. I guess my barfi will be quite different from yours so I wanted to figure out where I can tweak it to get the same consistency as yours. Which is why I have a few questions:
1. Can I replace normal sugar with brown sugar?
2. What should the sugar/water mixture look like after opening the instapot?
3. After mixing in the other ingredients – should the final mixture be of pouring consistency? Mine had become almost a ball.
4. Why did the ghee separate? does that happen? How can I prevent this?
Would be really grateful if you could answer these questions and itt might help me fix my barfi. Would absolutely want to try to make it a again!
Thank you!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Urvashi, I have only tested this recipe in an Instant Pot. A regular pressure cooker is different from an electric one, so my recipes won’t work the same. Also, I have not tested this recipe with brown sugar. In order to get the same results that you see here you’ll need to follow my recipes exactly! I highly suggest getting an IP, it’s a huge time saver!
Shruti Agarwal says
Hi Ashley, firstly thanks for such amazing recipes. I tried to follow the recipe exactly but the end result was more wet sand kind of consistency. I did press it with bowl to set in the pan. Please say it is suppose to be like this? If not how can I rescue it?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Shruti, how did it turn out? I’d say it’s more like liquidy sand versus wet sand, but it may still turn out well! Let me know!
Sangeeta says
Is the Dried milk powder same as the Indian milk powder or Nido milk powder?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Sangeeta, I typically use the Nido brand which I get from my local Indian grocery store 🙂 But any brand of milk powder should work – I’m not sure what you mean by Indian milk powder?
Nicole says
What kind of dry milk powder do you use? I’ve never bought it before and was seeing whole milk & nonfat options…I’m assuming the whole milk one? Thank you!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Nicole, both whole or nonfat will work, and honestly you can’t even tell the difference in taste. I’d get whatever brand your store carries! I’ve made burfi with many different brands and fat content and they always turn out well.
Rani S says
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for an amazing recipe, looks pretty straightforward and simple to make, I an going to make it this Diwali. I have a question regarding quantities, in the post you mentioned 200g sugar as 1 cup and then there is 200 g milk powder says 2 cups, could you please give me exact amounts so I dont mess it up?
Thanks in advance!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Rani, the weight of sugar and the weight of dry milk powder is different. I list weight in grams for those who want to be very precise – I weigh it out on a measuring scale. It’ll still work just fine if you use my cup measurements. If you have measuring cups then go by the cups listed in the recipe 🙂 Rest assured, it’s all well-tested!
Sheetal says
Which cocoa powder would you suggest using? I’m not a Hershey fan:(
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
I like the organic 365 cocoa from Whole Foods! But whatever brand should be fine 🙂
Mandy says
Do you have to use a pressure pot?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Mandy, I’ve only tested this recipe in an Instant Pot.
Ash says
Hi Ashley!
Can we use an equivalent amount of butter instead of ghee for this recipe?
Thanks!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Ash, I’ve only tested this with ghee but I’d think room temp butter would also work. Let me know if you try!
Aparna Kumar says
Hi Ashley
You have mentioned that we can make milk burfi and then pour chocolate burfi on top. What size pan should we use for double layer and when should we pour the chocolate burfi on top pf milk, when it has set in fridge or what. Coukd u please describe in detail. Thx so much.
Your recipes are awesome
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Aparna, it’s been a while since I made it this way, but I’d suggest letting the milk burfi cool down for an hour, then putting the chocolate layer on top. As for the size of the pan – that’ll depend on how thick you want it. I’d go with an 11×7 pan. But again, I don’t have exact measurements for this version. If there’s a lot of interest I’ll put this back on my list of things to make and perfect!