Deepawali Sweets - Bournvita Fudge!

Bournvita Fudge for Deepawali
We tasted this fudge during my sister’s wedding at Mysore. Father had “imported” the then famous cooks from Chennai for the grand occasion. They usually operated in groups of tens or more, forming their own “sets”. When they trooped into our house in white dothis, shirts and anga vastrams (cloth worn on the shoulders by men) my little daughter, who was only three or four years old at the time, enquired with wide eyes, why the “strike” was coming into our house. We were all awed by the way the ‘‘strike’’ managed not only the cooking and serving, but also the other important chores, and even the minuscule details in the wedding.
One chap was all the time behind my husband, serving him with all sorts of dishes the moment they were ready. My jovial husband wondered why that person was so friendly with him in particular, but enjoyed the hospitality anyway, along with a helping of fresh warm Bournvita fudge too. Sometime later after the wedding was over, to my poor husband's horror, (and to everybody else's mirth!) he found out that the person who took such good care of him was especially appointed by the Head Cook, to ‘look after’ the eldest mappilai (Son- in-law ) of the family, lest he feels neglected and shoots trouble in the wedding!

INGREDIENTS:
Plain white flour or Maida – 1 cup
Bournvita - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3 cups
Ghee -1/4 cup 
METHOD:
1. Heat ghee in a pan and roast the flour on a low flame, till it gives out a pleasant aroma. Take care that it does not burn. The consistency of flour and ghee mixture should be like a thick paste.
2. Keep the roasted flour mixture aside.
3. Dissolve the Bournvita in little warm water and keep aside. It should be thick like condensed milk.
4. Add one cup of water to sugar and boil till one thread consistency.
5. Add the roasted flour and stir to blend with sugar syrup.
6. Add the bournvita and blend well.
7. Keep stirring till the mass thickens and starts leaving the sides of the pan.
8. Pour on a greased plate and allow it to cool and set.
9. When it feels firm and still warm, use a knife and draw one set of diagonal lines on the cake. 10. Draw another set of diagonal lines in the opposite direction. This will make nice diamond shaped cakes.
Pop a piece into your mouth while its still warm, and melt away in ecstasy, as it melts in your mouth! 
Note: It took me many trials to get the right texture for this fudge! However, whatever you land up with still tastes delicious! If you remove the fudge too soon from the fire, then you will land up with Bournvita Halwa instead of fudge! My kids would roll it onto a spoon, to get giant sized lollipops! If you cook it too much, then you will land up with hard and brittle pieces rather than a firm and soft fudge!

Here is a useful link I found on sugar stages, with videos! ‘Soft ball stage’ best describes the consistency for Bournvita Fudge.

Comments

Lakshmi said…
interesting sweet to make for Deepavali. Thanks for posting Dibs.
Uma said…
wow, fudge with bournvita? Very innovative indeed! looks so delicious with perfect shapes. Thanks for sharing.
jayasree said…
This sweet was prepared for mine and my sister's wedding. My BIL is a great fan of this sweet. As u said, the pagam is very imp for this sweet.
anudivya said…
That is pretty nice, I remember having Horlicks mysore pak, somethng like that. Nice...
Unknown said…
beautiful sweet with bournvita,..
delhibelle said…
Bournvita Fudge? How very nice, and it would sure taste delicious, even if gets messed up a bit.
Enjoyed the story about your hubby and his shadow:D
Anonymous said…
I am extremely delighted to see this recipe. I have seen Bournvita burfis being sold in many sweet shops and always wanted to try it out. Especially since I had a box of bournvita that I wanted to finish.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Instantly bookmarked!
Purnima said…
Dibs, tks for sharing such a unique recipe! Bookmarked! :D Looks very yummy!
Raks said…
I was actually looking for this one,thanks somuch for posting...
Jayashree said…
Sounds delicious. As I was reading the post, I thought to myself, Iam going to make this for Diwali.....and then I read that it takes several trials to get it right. So I'll save it for another time, but Iam definitely trying this out.
Dibs, thank you for visiting my blog. You are so sweet. I love the fudge. But tell me, what is Bournita? I would love to try it. I truly enjoy cooking with new ingredients. You are a love and you have a great blog. I loved the wedding story. These are the experiences that makes us unique and fascinating. Hugs.
Anonymous said…
For thoes in the US, you can use OVALTINE as a replacment for Bournvita. :) YUMMY!!
Srivalli said…
Thats so lovely..you can send these for JFI Festival treats at my place!
Priya Suresh said…
Bournvita fudge is quite interestin..really looks delicious...
Usha said…
Great idea...looks delicious...now I have to find Bournvita here so that I can try this soon :-)
Dibs said…
Hey!! Thanks everybody for all the comments!

lakshmi - you commented really fast! :-) Thanks!

Uma - Thanks!

Jayasree - Thanks!

Divya - Horlicks mysore pak? Must sure try that! I have had Farex burfi at a firends place!

Jayasree - wonder id its the same cooks!!

Sowmya - Thanks!

Roma - Thanks!

Punima - Thanks!

Raks - Thanks!

Delhibelle - Haha yes! In fact its funnier because its my dear dad (Chitra Amma's husband!), and not my hubby! :-)))

Teresa - Bournvita is a choclaty health drink in India. Its got a unique and yummy flavour. You would get it in an Indian store I suppose! Tara my sis-in-law from US, says use Ovaltine!

Tara - thanks a ton for giving me a 'US' substitute for Bournvita!

Jayashree - Try it anyway, Bournvita halwa tastes just as good!

Srivalli - sure! Will do.

Priya - Thanks

Usha - try some other interesting choclatey drink where you live, and see!!
Vibaas said…
oh i love this. If it becomes hard you can call it bournvita candy :-) They used to sell bournvita candies in a store near my house in chennai. I guess those were just the mishaps of the bournvita fudge ;-)
Dibs said…
Vibaas - Good idea!
YOSEE said…
The yummy bits on the plate !!Slurp ! Yengeyo paartha maathiri irukkey ! hehehehe !
Jayashree said…
Tried it....loved it....and have blogged about it. Do chk it out when u can.
Shreya said…
hi, i have never heard of this, and it really is interesting. nice post :-)
Dibs said…
Hey! Thanks Jayashree.

Shreya - Try it ...its yummy!
Dibs said…
Haha Yosee - till amma amikafied this post, I never knew the bourn-saga began witha special mysore kalyanam! :-)))))
I really enjoyed eating bournvita slab. Appa
Anonymous said…
I tried it today and it came out well.Used Boost instead of Bournvita.Thanks for the recipe.
Sunshinemom said…
This reminds me of Mummy's 'Chocolate barfi'!! You have a lot of recipes for me to try:) Thank you for the delicious entry!!
luckysanjana said…
i make this chocolate walnut fudge with milkmaid which really turns out amazing......Ill share the recipe with you the next time I make it..........I can truly appreciate what you say about the perfection reqd in attaining the soft ball consistency......I think the thing with sweets is that unlike other food which we cook constanly they are relegated to Diwali or Xmas so they get made like once a year..........I mean what is the probability of attainig perfection once a year........so well ive had the fudge turn brittle sometimes , sometimes like a gooey mess and sometimes just purrrrrrrrrrfect........but you right whichever it turns out it always tastes heavenly......i like the idea of using bornvita shuld give it a different taste I guess. never tried making it with maida tha is new as well ....Ill give it a shot.........
Sowmya Gopal said…
reminds me of home and reminds me of amma.....she used to make it for every Diwali when I was in school, it was one of my favorite sweets....sigh...mouth watering already....should go and eat my salad now...double sigh....
Unknown said…
Hi ya,

I tried this recipe...came out really really well...the taste was awsome...my daughter loved it!!but just that became lil hard, may be i should have taken out few mins before...if you mention the timings..how long to keep stirring to get the required consistency will be nice...I'm an ardent visitor of your blog...helps me to get the taste what my grandmom used to make...
Unknown said…
HI,

Fudge looks heavenly,Is it 3 cups of sugar or 1 cup of sugar.There is a discrepancy in your recipe.U've said 1 cup in the prep part.Im plannin on making it very soon.
Anonymous said…
Hi, I used 2.5 cups of sugar till one string consistency and my sweet is watery. Can you tell me how to fix it?

Sri
Dibs said…
Dear Sri,
If it is watery it needs to be cooked for some more time.Cook until the mass leaves the sides of the pan.You can feel the crystalising of sugar on the sides of the pan as you keep stirring. Pour on to the greased plate immediately.
Chitra.
Dibs said…
Dear Sri,
If it is watery it needs to be cooked for some more time.Cook until the mass leaves the sides of the pan.You can feel the crystalising of sugar on the sides of the pan as you keep stirring. Pour on to the greased plate immediately.
Chitra.
ishika said…
its really gud recepie ...thank you.,
Anuja Krishnan said…
Hi Dibs...I came across your blog when I was searching for a bournvita cake recipe. I read about your recipe on another blog. I tried it recently (see my post here --http://whatdoimake.blogspot.com/2011/10/boost-cakebarfi-aka-melt-in-mouth.html) and it turned out to be a great success. Thanks for sharing your recipe and thanks for the tips too. Great work on your blog..good luck!
Shammi said…
Hi, is it really 3 cups sugar to 1 cup flour?
Yes Shammi! Use 3 cups of sugar for 1 cup of flour to get perfect 'melt in the mouth' slabs.