Besan Barfee

6 oz Chick pea flour; 1 1/4 c

-180 g. also called besan -or Gram flour 1 c Vegetable oil; 8 fl oz.

14 oz Sugar; 1 1/2 c or 395 g

1/2 ts Cardamom seeds; ground

2 tb Pistachios; unsalted

-up to 3 tbsp -lightly crushed 1 tb Almonds, blanched;coarsely

-chopped - up to 2 tbsp Anne's note: The original recipe measures the dry ingredients by weight; these are the most accurate measures (I converted it to volume measures). Sift the chick pea flour. Heat oil in a heavy, 10-12" frying pan, wok or saute pan over a medium flame. Put in the sifted chick pea flour. Stir and fry 2 to 3 minutes until the flour turns a shade darker and is cooked (it should taste fried, not raw). Put the flour into a large bowl, stir at once and allow to cool. Make a syrup with 1 cup/8 fl oz/1/4 litre water and the 14 oz/1 1/3 c/395 g. sugar by bringing the water-sugar combination to a boil and then simmering very gently for about 20 minutes or until the syrup reaches a one thread consistency. (To test this, dip in a wooden spoon and let coat slightly. Pinch some syrup off the back of the spoon with two fingers and then try separating the fingers. One sticky thread should form. This is the Indian method. If you have a better one, use it.) Pour the hot syrup in the cooled chick pea flour/gram flour mixture. add the ground cardamom seeds and the nuts and mix well. keep stirring until mixture begins to harden slightly. (It should still be pourable.) Pour into a 9 inch square cake tin, tilt tin so barfee mixture flows to the edges and allow to cool. Cut into 3/4 inch cubes. besan barfee if tightly wrapped in aluminium foil and then placed in a plastic container, freezes very well. MAKES: 144 little cubes SOURCE: _Eastern Vegetarian Cooking_ by Madhur Jaffrey posted by Anne MacLellan