Badam Katli aka almond burfi is an Indian dessert made of almonds and sugar. I have given this traditional katli a twist by adding cocoa powder to it. Who doesn’t love a bit of chocolate in their dessert right!? Sharing this fuss-free, chocolaty, smooth textured chocolate katli recipe to make this festive season.
Making chocolate katli at home is super easy & quick as this recipe uses store bought almond flour (if you want to use homemade almond flour, read the instruction below). This is my favorite go to sweet as it takes less than 30 minutes to make. You can easily substitute almond flour with sifted cashew powder. The results will be equally delicious. My badam katli is flavored with unsweetened cocoa powder, feel free to adapt the flavor to your liking . You can even make a plain badam katli and flavor it with saffron, cardamom or rose water.
Katli and burfi are basically the same thing. Katli means a slice which is thinner and is cut into diagonals. Burfi is thicker and cut into squares.
Tips to make a perfect badam katli
- Sift the almond flour and then measure it. Sieving the almond flour brings air into the flour & makes it easier to mix with the wet ingredients. Discard the excess flour that wont pass through the sieve for a smooth textured katli.
- Use a wide non stick pan to cook the almond flour mixture. Cook on a low medium flame to ensure even cooking.
- Allow the cooked almond flour mixture to cool down for 1-2 minutes before you roll it out flat.
- Make sure you grease the parchment paper with ghee to avoid mixture from sticking.
- Use a ruler to mark and cut even shaped katli. Use a sharp pizza cutter or knife greased with ghee to get sharp cuts. Wipe the knife incase mixture sticks to it & continue cutting.
How to make perfect Sugar Syrup
Mix sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan, bring it to a boil on a medium flame. Lower the heat and let the syrup simmer until bubbly. It takes about 7- 8 minutes after the sugar is dissolved to reach the two string consistency. Two thread consistency is when two threads are formed (and does not break) when your forefinger and thumb are pulled apart gently. This stage is also know as soft ball stage. At this stage a drop of sugar syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft, flexible ball.
Can I substitute almond flour with almond meal?
Almond meal and almond flour are both made of ground almonds. The difference lies in the raw material and method of production.
- Almond flour is made from blanched almonds or almonds with their skins removed. Its finely ground resulting in smooth texture in fudge or barfi.
- Almond meal contains skin making it darker brown in color instead of off white like almond flour. It has coarse texture than almond flour and results in denser, chewy texture in a katli or barfi.
Hence I recommend using almond flour as it works best for the recipe.
Can I make Badam Katli if I dont have store bought almond flour?
Making almond flour at home is a cost effective.
- Soak the almonds in hot water for 5-7 minutes.
- Drain the almonds and rinse under cold water.
- Peel the skin on the almonds.
- Spread them out on a paper towel and let them air dry thoroughly. Leave them overnight to dry.
- Do not powder moist almonds as the powder will be coarse in texture.
- Once completely dry powder them in a blender. Blitz until a fine, powdery flour is achieved. You will know you have gone too far if it starts turning into almond butter instead.
Variations
- If you don’t like chocolate you can skip adding cocoa powder to it. Replace 1/4 cup coca powder with 1/4 cup almond flour or powdered cashews.
- You can also infuse saffron flavors by adding pounded saffron to the sugar syrup to make Saffron Badam Katli.
