Kara Thukkada Recipe / Spicy Diamond Cuts Recipe

Kara thukkada is an addictive, crunchy tea time snack. It is called by different names in different regions..Kaara thukkada, Diamond cuts, Namakpara, Nimkin, Savoury Shankarpale and so on. Usually these are made using maida (refined flour) with salt and spices like chilli powder, carom seeds or nigella and are deep fried. I have made them with whole wheat flour. This easy to make snack, tastes great when paired with masala tea or ginger tea.

INGREDIENTS:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Corn flour - 2 tablespoons (optional)
Ajwain (omam) - 1/4 tsp.

White sesame seeds - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
Salt - approx. 3/4 tsp. or as needed
Hing - 1/4 tsp.

Melted butter - 1 tablespoon
Hot oil - 2 tablespoons

Oil - to deep fry

METHOD:

Sieve wheat flour. Take a wide bowl. Combine all given ingredients.  Add water and knead to form a medium-stiff dough. Keep covered for 5 minutes. 

Knead well, make medium sized balls and roll into thin chappathis. Do not worry about edges. Cut into diamond shapes using a knife or pizza cutter.

Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the diamond cuts in batches.  

When crisp and golden brown, drain in a paper towel. Fry in medium heat and repeat with all diamond cuts. 

When cool, store in an air-tight container.

NOTE: Adding corn flour gives flaky and crispy Diamond cuts

VARIATION:

1. Kalonji, cumin seeds or sesame seeds can be substituted for ajwain.

2. Black pepper powder can be substituted for red chilli powder.

Ragi thenkuzhal recipe / Ragi murukku recipe

INGREDIENTS:

Ragi flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Urad dal flour - 2 tablespoons
White sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a generous pinch
Salt - 1 tsp or as needed
Melted butter - 1 tbsp
Hot oil - 1 tbsp
Water - approx 2 3/4 - 3 cups

Oil - to deep fry

METHOD:

Sieve, dry roast each flour separately until hot, and keep ready.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat water.

Meanwhile mix well all given ingredients and keep ready.

When water starts boiling, switch off the stove and add the mixed ingredients, stir and keep it closed for around 10-15 minutes. When warm enough to handle, knead it to a soft dough. Add hot water if needed. (You can add 3/4th of mentioned water, reserve some hot water and add more if needed. Water depends on the quality of flour).

Fill the dough in thenkuzhal achu (moulds). Press in hot oil. Deep fry on medium heat, flip both sides and fry until the hissing sound reduces.

Drain in a kitchen tissue. When cool store in airtight containers.

Ragi thenkuzhal is ready.

NOTE: As this will be dark in colour, it will be difficult to find if its done. Be mindful and take out from oil once the hissing sound ceases.

BESAN COCONUT BURFI

INGREDIENTS:

Besan (Gram flour) - 1/2 cup
Fresh grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 1/4 cup
Ghee - 3/4 - 1 cup

Broken cashews - 3 tablespoon

Cardomom powder- 1/8 tsp.

METHOD:

Grease a tray with melted ghee and keep aside.

Grate coconut, slightly grind in mixie, just a whirr and keep aside.

Sieve and dry roast besan until good aroma comes. Keep aside. Fry cashews in a spoon of ghee until golden brown. Keep ready.

In a pan add sugar and little water to immerse sugar and bring it to one thread consistency.

At this stage, add coconut gratings and roasted besan, mix well without lumps, add ghee little by little. Keep stirring. Add ghee-fried cashews and cardamom powder. 

When the mixture leave the sides of pan and is little thick, pour into the greased tray, tap the tray and level the surface. When warm cut it into desired shape.

Besan coconut burfi is ready. 

Thin poha chivda (Maharashtrian style) / Kachcha chiwda / Roasted poha chiwda

Kachcha chivda is a maharashtrian style quick and tasty snack made from thin poha. I learnt this from an aunty who is from Maharashtra. 

INGREDIENTS:

• Thin white poha (Paper aval) - 3 cups
• Roasted gram (pottukadalai) - 1 tablespoon
• Peanuts - 1 tablespoon
• Dry coconut slices - 1 tablespoon
• Cashews and raisins - optional
• Curry leaves - few
• Green chilly - sliced or chopped - 2
• Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp.
• Hing powder - a generous pinch 
• Powdered sugar - 1/4 tsp. optional
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - to fry and temper

METHOD:

Heat a  thick bottomed pan or kadai. It is better to have a kadai with handle. The poha will be very thin like a paper and stirring continuously to roast them may break the poha. 

Keep the flame to low ( DO NOT roast in high flame) and add thin poha. Roast by gently shaking the pan until the poha is crisp, transfer to a plate and keep aside.

In a small pan, heat oil and fry, peanuts until crisp. Transfer it to the plate. Similarly, fry roasted gram add coconut pieces separately until crisp. 

Heat a tablespoon of oil in the same kadai, add curry leaves, green chillies, hing, saute well, finally add turmeric powder, salt to taste and sugar powder. Give a quick stir and add the roasted poha, and other fried items and mix gently without breaking the poha.  Switch off the flame and  allow the chivda in the hot kadai for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer it to a wide plate. When cool store in an air-tight container. This is an excellent tea-time snack too.

Khoya barfi / Mawa burfi

I had been busy these days shifting my house to Coimbatore. Being literally tied up & busy with personal works. Some of my readers asked me to post some easy Diwali sweets / savouries recipes. So I thought of posting a very easy to make, quick burfi recipe, which has been laying in my drafts since long. Khoya barfi or mawa barfi can be made within 15 minutes. I will get back to blogging soon.

INGREDIENTS:

• Khoya - 2 cups (unsweetened) 
• Sugar - 1/2 cup 
• Cardamom - 2 (powdered)
• Cashew - 6 (optional)
• Milk - 2 tbsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp 
• Pistachios - to garnish
• A few drops of rose water or any essence - optional

METHOD:

• Bring khoya to room temperature. Grate or crumble it before measuring.
• Grease a plate with ghee and keep it ready. 
• Soak cashews in hot water for half an hour and  grind it to a thick paste along with milk.
• Slice pistachios and keep ready.
• Heat a heavy bottomed /non stick pan, add ghee. When it melts, add crumbled khoya, cashew paste and sugar.  Mix well, keep the stove to a medium flame and stir continuously until sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes sticky. 
• Add cardamom powder, mix well and stir continuously in medium-low flame until the mixture comes together like a mass. There will be a slight change in the color. 
• Pour the mixture in the greased plate. Level it to 1/2" thick with a greased wooden spatula . Garnish with few sliced pistachios on top.
• Leave it to cool down. Once set, cut into desired shapes. Store khoya barfi in an air-tight container.

Kara boondi / Spicy boondi

Kara boondi is a spicy, tasty and popular anytime snack made especially during Diwali.

INGREDIENTS:

• Gram flour / Besan flour - 1 cup
• Rice flour - 1/4 cup
• Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
• Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp.
• Hing - 1/8 tsp.
• Salt - as needed (approx. 1/2 tsp. more or less)
• Cooking soda - 1 pinch (optional, I did not use)
• Peanuts - 1 tablespoon
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Ghee - 1 tsp.
• Oil - to deep fry
• Perforated ladles

METHOD:

Sieve gram flour and rice flour. Take a broad bowl, add the sieved flour, turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt, hing and mix well. Add a tablespoon of  hot oil, mix well. Add water little by little and make a batter of pouring consistency, slightly thinner than dosa batter consistency. Whisk well without any lumps. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Take the perforated ladle, hold it little high above the oil. Pour about 1/2 cup of batter into the ladle. Tap it lightly so that the batter will drop into the oil. Alternatively, you can use another ladle to spread the batter. Fry in medium flame. When the oil stops sizzling, fry for few more seconds until the boondis become golden and crispy. Drain with another slotted ladle and place the boondis in a kitchen tissue to absorb the excess oil. Wipe the perforated ladle on both sides with a paper towel after each batch, so that the  holes are not clogged. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

In a pan heat ghee and fry peanuts until crisp. Add curry leaves. Stir fry with a spoon. Switch off the flame. Add it to the boondi and toss well.  Spicy Kara boondi is ready. When cool, store in an airtight container.

Variation:

1. Ghee-fried cashews can also be added.

2. Instead of adding chilli powder in the batter, you can sprinkle it on the fried boondis and toss it well.

3. Boondhis can be done without chilli powder

4. Pepper powder can be substituted for chilli powder and sprinkled finally to the fried boondhis. 

TIP: If the batter is watery, boondhis will be flat. Add little besan. If the batter is very thick, boondis will become dense. To check the batter consistency, dip the handle of a spoon into the boondi batter and let it drip into hot oil and see if the boondi shape is round, crisp and perfect. 

Spicy mixture

Diwali is not complete without making mixture. Here is an easy recipe of mixture which can be done in minutes. Even novice cooks can make this with ease.

INGREDIENTS:

Thick aval (poha) - 4 cups
Oma podi - 2 cups (crushed roughly)
Roasted peanuts - 2 tablespoons

Roasted gram (Pottukadalai) - 2 tablespoons
Chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Asafoetida - a generous pinch
Curry leaves - a sprig
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 1 tablespoon

Oil - to deep fry

METHOD:

Sieve aval without any sand. Heat oil in a kadai and make Oma podi as said here. Keep aside. In the same oil, deep fry aval. Aval puffs immediately. Fry little aval at a time. Remove aval and put it in a broad bowl. Add little salt and mix gently. Crush Oma podi slightly and add to the fried aval.

Heat ghee in a pan. Add peanuts and fry until golden. Again add a spoon of ghee and fry pottukadalai until crisp. Add curry leaves and roast a bit. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and hing. Give a quick saute and add these to the fried aval, omapodi mixture. Mix everything well but gently. Spicy and crispy mixture is ready. When cool, store in an airtight container.

NOTE:
Generally, peanuts and pottukadalai are also deep fried in oil. Using ghee enhances the flavour.

Mixed nuts burfi

INGREDIENTS:

Unsalted almonds, cashews, pista, walnuts - 3 cups
(I used the whole almonds with skin. Any combination of nuts can be used.)
Sugar - 2 1/2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 to 3/4 cup

METHOD:

Dry roast the nuts separately until slightly warm, be careful not to burn the nuts. Cool and dry grind to a coarse powder. Grease a tray and keep it ready.

In a kadai, dissolve sugar in water and make one string consistency syrup. Add nuts powder and mix well. When the mixture starts boiling, simmer the stove and stir continuously in low flame. Once it starts to thicken, add ghee and keep stirring until the mixture leaves the sides of the kadai. Pour it into the greased tray. While still warm, cut into desired shape.

MYSORE PAK RECIPE / MYSORE PAK POROUS RECIPE

The traditional porous mysore pak is a melt-in-mouth sweet made during festivals, functions and marriages. When I was young, elders at home made these type of mysore pak only. Being in Coimbatore, I can still remember the days when Krishna sweets soft mysorepa (I mention it as mysorepa and not mysorepak) was introduced. Elders would say, "Mysorepagunna kara karannu vaaila potta karaiya vendamo? Ennamo po" i.e., Mysorepak is meant to be crunchy and melt in mouth instead of being soft. Krishna sweets mysorepa is known for its taste and easy making though. 

Traditional mysorepak is a challenge to make. It requires continuous attention. I generally post stepwise pictures only for most needed recipes, because I don't have any assistance and some recipes need timely click. This is one such recipe.  Unfortunately, there was no power and the weather was also very gloomy. I had to be really fast and I couldn't click the final busy seconds, as I was concentrating on the right texture. Still, I have clicked with available light and to my might for easy understanding. As I felt it would be helpful/useful to all if I wrote the minute details and tips, it really took long time to write this post than making mysore pak.😃

HAPPY DEEPAVALI ! 

INGREDIENTS:
Gram flour / Besan  - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 1/2 cups OR 
A mixture of Ghee - 1 cup  and oil -1/2 cup 
Sugar - 2 1/2 cups
Water - see method

METHOD:

Grease a tray with ghee and keep ready.

Sieve besan and keep it ready near the stove. (Some people dry roast besan). 

Take sugar in a thick bottomed kadai, add water, just to immerse the sugar and make sugar syrup for soft ball consistency. If you add a drop of syrup in a small plate of water, you should be able to roll it to a ball, without dissolving in the water or you can check the syrup with your index finger and thumb to get a thick, long one string consistency.  Meanwhile, melt ghee+oil mixture in another stove, in medium flame and keep it ready too. When you get the sugar syrup consistency, put the flour little by little in it, simultaneously add a ladle of hot melted ghee also and stir it non-stop without any lumps. 

NOTE: THE GHEE SHOULD BE REALLY HOT. Keep an eye so that it doesn't get burnt. A mixture of oil and ghee as mentioned in the ingredients, is safe and best to use as it prevents quick burning. It was really like multitasking. 😍

Each time when you pour the hot ghee mixture, the mixture hisses and frothes and you can see air bubbles. Pour the ladle of ghee in such a way that it spreads all over the mixture.These bubbles finally turn into beautiful pores and makes the mysore pak porous. This is the secret of porous mysorepak. 

Stir continuously in medium flame. Repeat the process until besan and ghee is finished. When the whole mixture becomes frothy, leaving the sides of the kadai (need not become a mass) switch off the flame and quickly transfer the mixture to a greased tray. Just tap the tray to get a uniform surface. (Do not press with a spatula to even the surface).  Wait just for a couple of minutes. When it is still hot, run a greased knife to get the desired shape. Allow it to cool and then take out the pieces.

Traditional, porous, crunchy mysore pak is ready. 😅😋

You can see the air bubbles in this picture.👇👇

OOSI THENKUZHAL MANOHARAM RECIPE / MANOHARAM RECIPE / MANOHARAM WITH OOSI THENKUZHAL

Manoharam is a South Indian sweet made during festivals and functions. Manoharam in Tamil means beautiful. There is a practice of giving manoharam paruppu thengai (cones) as seer during brahmin marriages and family functions. Usually it is done with thenkuzhal. My mom and grandma makes this with oosi thenkuzhal. I have posted oosi thenkuzhal recipe earlier. For a change I also made it with oosi thenkuzhal and the sweet will be an easy bite even for elders.

Click here for Manoharam made with regular thenkuzhal.

Click here for Oosi thenkuzhal recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Oosi thenkuzhal crushed -  5 cups
Crushed jaggery - 1 cup

Ghee - to grease hand

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp.

NOTE: There is no hard and fast measurement for jaggery syrup. Just add syrup to bind the thenkuzhals. Adding more will make this manoharam soggy because oosi thenkuzhal is very thin.

METHOD:

Crush oosi thenkuzhal into small pieces in a bowl and transfer to a wide plate. 

Crush and powder  jaggery. Dissolve in half a cup of water, strain without any dirt or mud.

Heat jaggery and make soft ball syrup out of the jaggery. Drop a little of jaggery syrup in a cup of water, and using your hand try making a soft ball. This is the perfect consistency for the jaggery syrup. Add cardamom powder. Mix well.

Add jaggery syrup to the crushed thenkuzhals. Mix well with a spatula. Grease your hands with ghee and make rough balls out of it.  When still warm and tighten and shape to even sized balls. 

Delicious Oosi thenkuzhal manoharam is ready.

7 CUP BURFI RECIPE / SEVEN CUP CAKE / 7 CUP CAKE RECIPE / EASY DIWALI RECIPES

This is an easy and delicious sweet made during festivals. Since 7 cups of ingredients are used to make this, the barfi is named 7 cup barfi / 7 cup cake. It tastes like traditional mysorepa (the one with pores), with an added flavor of cashews and coconut, when done crunchier. As I preferred it to be rustic in look, I made it crunchier. You can make it soft too. See the post for details. Even a novice cook can make this easy seven cup barfi. 

INGREDIENTS:

Gram flour/besan/kadalaimaavu - 1 cup
Cashew powder - 1/2 cup
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 1/2 cups
Ghee - 1 cup

METHOD:

Sieve besan. Dry grind cashewnuts coarsely. Grease a tray and keep ready.

Combine all dry ingredients in a heavy bottomed kadai and mix well. Add milk and ghee, mix well without any lumps.

Now, keep kadai on the stove and stir continuously in medium flame. When the mixture starts to boil, reduce the flame to low and keep on stirring. After some time, the mixture will start leaving the sides of the kadai and start to froth. Check by dropping a small drop in a plate. It should firm up. This is the consistency. Pour the mixture on the greased tray if you like a soft set burfi. Personally, I like it crunchy. To get it crunchy with rustic look, I kept the mixture on stove for a couple of minutes more. Even the surface gently with a spatula. When warm, cut into desired shape. 

NOTE: It can be done with 3 cups of sugar minus cashews. As I felt sugar would be more and also wanted it to be rich, I made like this. Any nuts can be substituted for cashews.

PUMPKIN SEEDS AND NUTS ENERGY LADOO RECIPE / PUMPKIN SEEDS AND NUTS ENERGY BALLS RECIPE

Pumpkin Seeds and Nuts Energy ladoo / Energy balls can be made with or without added sugars. These are easy to make, simple and healthy and is very nutritious.

Pumpkin seeds (yellow pumpkin seeds, NOT ashgourd seeds) also known as Pepitas, are good sources of magnesium, pottasium and zinc. They aid in lowering cholestrol, promote good prostate and helps in boosting metabolism. They are loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids and the antioxidants found in pumpkin seeds assist in maintaining blood sugar levels and is helpful in preventing complications of diabetes. It is also helpful in menstrual disorders and insomnia. Though available, these seeds are bit costly in India. My son sent me these from U.S.

Recently, I received a Turbo chopper from Preethi Kitchen Appliances. Preethi Turbo chopper is an easy to use, handy equipment used for chopping onions, cabbage, greens and nuts. Dips and chutneys with tomatoes, herbs, etc. can also be made with this small chopper. It just needs one press and does its job fast. I have used this Turbo chop for making this energy ladoos. You can also use a dry mixer jar.

INGREDIENTS:

Pumpkin seeds - 1/2 cup (yellow pumpkin seeds, NOT ashgourd seeds)
Cashews - 1/2 cup
Almond - 1/2 cup
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Roasted gram -1/4 cup
Raisins- 1/2 cup
Palm candy - 1/4 cup
Honey - 3 tablespoons
Nutella - 160 gms.
Ghee- to grease hands

METHOD:

Dry roast pumpkin seeds, cashews, almond, peanuts and roasted gram separately, on low heat until hot. If kept in fridge, bring to room temperature and then dry roast. 

When cool, grind along with palm candy to a coarse powder. 

Now add raisins, honey and nutella, whip until mixed well. 

Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Grease hands with ghee and shape to balls, pedas, or squares. If cutting like square, transfer to a tray, press the surface evenly with a greased cup and cut into desired shape.

OOSI THENKUZHAL RECIPE

This is an easy to bite, melt in mouth snack for all, especially elders.Its been done for more than 100 years in our home by my grandma, great grandma... patti, Kollu, ellu paattis. I have not seen anyone making these type of thenkuzhals in any of our extended families. But my grandma says, it was common on earlier days and said its name as oosi thenkuzhal. I suddenly remembered this and made. It can be done with regular thenkuzhal maavu. My recipe is as follows:

Click 👉for Thenkuzhal and Millet coconut milk thenkuzhal recipes

INGREDIENTS:

Processed rice flour - 5 cups
Urad dhal powder- 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp.
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Hing - 1/2 tsp.
Oil - to deep fry

METHOD:

Sieve the flour well. Combine all ingredients and mix well to get a crumbly texture.

Add water little by little to make a smooth, manageable dough.

Heat oil in a wok. Make balls out of the dough and fill it in 'Omapodi achu' and press in a circular motion directly into the oil. Flip on both sides until done. When cool, store in airtight container.

NOTE: This gets cooked fast, so be careful and do not fry in oil for a long time, else it will turn brown.

MAALADU / MAALADOO / MAALAADU / ROASTEDGRAM LADOO

Maladu / Maa ladoo is an easiest, simplest and quick to make, healthy sweet made with pottukadalai (roasted gram). Ladoo courtesy: My sister Radha. The ladoos in the picture were made by my sister. 

INGREDIENTS:

Pottukadalai (Roasted gram) - 2 cups 
Sugar - 1 and 1/2 cups OR Boora sugar - 1 and 1/2 cups. 
Cashews - 10 
Ghee - 3/4 cup 
Powdered cardamom - 1/2 tsp. 

METHOD: 

Heat a pan and dry roast pottukadalai until hot. Pound it to a fine powder. Powder the sugar finely using a mixie. OR you can also use the boora chakkarai (boora sugar) which will be available in the stores. 

Break cashews into small pieces and fry it in a spoon of ghee until golden brown. Keep aside.

Melt ghee in the same pan. This should be warm while shaping the balls. 

Mix together powdered pottukadalai, powdered sugar, cardamom powder and ghee-fried cashews. Add the melted ghee little by little and shape into balls. (DO NOT POUR IN THE ENTIRE GHEE. POUR A LADLE OF GHEE AND SHAPE FOUR OR FIVE BALLS) Repeat the procedure for the entire mixture. Shape all the balls tightly. 

NOTE: Little milk can be sprinkled if felt difficult to shape.

POTTUKADALAI MANAKKOMBU / POTTUKADALAI MULLU MURUKKU / ROASTED GRAM MURUKKU / POTTUKADALAI MURUKKU

This crispy savoury is very easy to make and termed by different names like Manakkombu / Mullu murukku / Magizhampoo thenkuzhal / Mullu thenkuzhal / Magizhampoo murukku etc. 

INGREDIENTS:

Idiyappam flour / Processed rice flour / Store bought rice flour - 2 cups
Pottukadalai powder (Roasted gram powder) - 1/2 cup
Butter - 50 gms.
Cumin seeds / Ajwain - 1 tsp.
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp.
Hing - 1/4 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

METHOD:

Melt butter. Mix all the ingredients in a wide bowl, without water. Keep aside.

Take out a small portion from the above mixture, add little water and knead it to a medium-soft, manageable dough.

Heat oil in a kadai. Fill the dough in a three starred achu (what we call as mullu thenkuzhal achu) and press it firmly in a circular motion, directly into the oil. Alternatively, you can press in greased ladles and slide gently into the oil. Ensure medium heat, and fry on both sides until golden brown and crisp. Drain on a kitchen towel to remove excess oil. When cool, store in an air-tight container.

NOTE: 

Ensure medium heat of oil while frying. 

Do not let the dough to rest for a long time as it will absorb more oil. Take out only little portions of the mixed flour and knead with water as and when required. 

When cool, store in air-tight containers at room temperature.

CASHEW BADAM KESAR BURFI / KAJU BADAM KESAR BURFI / CASHEW ALMOND BURFI / KAJU BADAM BURFI

INGREDIENTS:

Cashewnuts - 1 cup
Almonds - 1 cup
Sugar - 3 cups
1st quality saffron strands - 3 finger pinch
Milk - approximately 1/4 cup
Melted butter or ghee - 1/2 cup
2 to 3 drops of yellow food colour (optional)

METHOD:

Soak cashewnuts in water for an hour. Soak almonds separately in hot water for an hour. Soak saffron in 2 tablespoons on warm milk.

Sliver 6 almonds. Keep aside. Peel the remaining almonds. Drain soaked water and grind cashews and almonds in a mixie, to a fine powder. Add very little milk and grind again to a smooth thick paste. Use as little milk as possible while grinding.

Grease a tray with melted ghee and keep ready.

Combine the ground paste and sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan, and cook on medium heat. Now the sugar will dissolve and the mixture will become watery. Keep stirring continuously in medium heat, until the mixture begins to thicken. Add slivered almonds, reduce heat and keep stirring until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and turns like a dough. Wet your fingers, pinch a little from the dough and roll it to a small ball. If you can and it doesn't stick to your hand, then it is done. Alternatively you can take a pinch from the dough and rub it to a plate. If you can roll without sticking, then it is done. Switch off the stove, add ghee little by little, simultaneously stirring the mixture until the ghee mixes well. Now add soaked saffron alongwith soaked milk and mix until it spreads well in the dough. Pour the mixture to the greased tray and level the surface evenly with a flat spoon or spatula. Cut into rectangle shape or desired shape with a knife, when cool.

Delicious kaju badam barfi / kaju badam kesar barfi is ready. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container.

NOTE:
The colour from saffron itself will be enough for the burfi. You can use food colour if your prefer to.