Dates & nuts burfi - celebrate the festival of lights

South India celebrates Deepavali as Naraka Chaturdashi (celebrating the victory of Krishna & wife Satyabhama over the evil demon Narakasura) and Bali Padyami (celebrated as Diwali all over India). Diwali is also celebrated as Laxmi pooja in business communities where accounting starts afresh on this day of the year. No matter what it was called, the festival of lights was dear to us as kids. It meant lots and lots of food, fire crackers to burst throughout the day and deepa (or diyas) to light up in the evening. While we were in elementary school, me & my younger brother decided not to buy or burst crackers but put all our energy into lighting the Deepas in the evening. I am not sure how it started but it had something to do with the seemingly unending noise and dust that clouded the Deepavali festival for us, it was a very small way of contributing towards a healthier environment. While we did get called names by friends for the 'noble deed', I am happy we stuck to it. The few times I have broken the self imposed rule is the year I got married and BH brought home some crackers and when DD was 2 years old and we lighted some flower pots for the baby to enjoy. I try not to be a spoil sport and join in the fun but I don't go out & buy crackers myself without someone putting pressure on me :-)

Come evening, lights were a big part of the festival for us. Amma used to make lamps with wheat flour in addition to the clay lamps and get them ready with wicks and oil in the afternoon. Arranged in a wide platter, we would take them outdoors and put them at a few inches from each other all over the wall around the house and light them with a candle. Invariably, Deepavali would come with wind and some rains which used to ruin the lights but the indomitable spirit in us as kids saw to it that we kept relighting them every time a wind blew them out. In addition to the lamps, we also have started putting up our strings of electric light as everybody here gets ready for the holiday season.

May this Deepavali bring everyone lots of joy and happiness.

I have been visiting and going over the scrumptious Deepavali/Diwali treats cooked by many blogger friends for the past 2 weeks or so. While I thought I would join in and post my festive recipes, I got pulled back for lack of time and also the fact that we have been eating heavily for some time now to enjoy the goodies with visiting family and the trend will continue on for a while to come. So to keep it simple and yet delicious, I made these dry fruits and nuts burfi. If you are looking for a festive treat to celebrate the festival of lights, cooking can't get any simpler than this healthy treat.

What do you need to make the Dates & nuts Burfi?
About 10 good quality dates - pitted (I used medjool dates which are on the sweeter side)
About 4 dry figs (optional, if not using, increase the quantity of dates by another 4)
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1 Tblsp pine nuts (optional)
1 Tblsp poppy seeds/gasagase
1 Tsp ghee

How do you make Dates & nuts Burfi? 

• Chop the dates and figs (if using) into small pieces and keep aside. 
• Dry roast the poppy seeds for a couple of minutes until they start to pop, cool and powder them. keep aside.
• Dry roast the nuts for a couple of minutes and chop them into small pieces.
• Heat the ghee in a pan, add the chopped dates and figs and let it soften up on medium heat. 
• As the dates become softer, push them together into a single mass with the help of the spatula. 

• When the dates pieces are no longer visible (5-7 minutes), add the chopped nuts and powdered poppy seeds. Give a good mix and switch off the stove. 
• Take everything onto a wide plate/cutting board and work with your hands to ensure nuts get mixed in well. 

• Break into 2 balls and roll them into logs, let it sit for 8-10 minutes or until it cools off. 
• With a sharp knife, cut them into 1/2 inch thick discs, store and enjoy. 

Notes: 

• I do not add any sugar in this recipe as the dates I get here are quite sweet, you may want to add sugar if you prefer it. 
• Adding roasted poppy seeds powder gives a very nice flavor to the burfis, a little amount of poppy seeds goes a long way. 
• If you want to make this more festive looking, get some sheets of edible silver foils and wrap the logs in them. When you cut the discs out from the logs, you have a nicely silver coated burfi.

• Roasting the nuts is not mandatory but I prefer it for the crunch it gives the nuts. You can spread the nuts in a single layer in a microwave safe plate and zap it for a minute for the same roasted crunch.
• You can mix & match any unsalted nuts of your choice in this recipe. 
• Chopped dates+figs should be the same volume as the chopped mixed nuts. 

Dates cake - a very successful date with some dates

Baking is indeed therapeutic, I completely understand why good bakers are happy with the world :-). My affair with baking started late and I am still an extremely in-proficient baker at best, but that doesn't stop me from trying and when something clicks and the baked goods vanish quickly with some slurps, my day is made. I am not talking of any big league baking here, what I made the other day was a very simple dates cake which turned out super moist and fluffy not to mention delicious. That says something especially given the fact that it absolutely had no butter or eggs, don't believe it? Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

Hers is a blog I chanced on a year or so ago, before I was a blogger and I love everything about Nupur's blog. I have book marked her site and visit often. She wrote about this eggless dates cake recently and referenced two other blogger sites that had posted about it and I shamelessly followed the link to one of them to learn about the recipe, well.. isn't that what a blogger is supposed to do?. It is a recipe posted a year back and seemed really simple. I followed the recipe to the T (I don't mess with proportions while baking, I reserve all the adventure to my other cooking :-)), when the family tasted it, there were oohs and aahs all around. I knew I had a keeper, thanks Sandeepa for the recipe and Nupur for pointing me in that direction.

Dates are naturally sweet, soft and have huge health benefits. They are rich in iron, potassium, antioxidant flavonoids, dietary fiber and are made of simple sugars to quickly replenish energy. I always keep a box of dates in my kitchen, they are my go to sweets to calm down the sweet craving I get after food :-). I have had been unsuccessful in feeding these healthy fruits to DD as she doesn't like something(!) about them, obviously she doesn't tell me what it is but she just refuses to eat dates. I am glad to have found a pretty healthy way to send some good dates into her system. As she was polishing off the cake the other day, she tells me that everything tasted good in cakes as if that explains it :-).

Back to the recipe, it is a cake because it is baked, turns out moist, super fluffy and yummy but does not have butter or eggs. When I made it the first time, I was not prepared for the response to it and hence had not taken any pictures. When the family loved it, I made it for a second time in 3 days on the pretext of a party at my DD's dance school so I could take pictures for the blog :-). I know, very selfish, bloggers are crazy people like that but I also honestly meant to send something for one of the girls for whom they had the party.

4/17/2016 update: By some flash of brilliance, I added seeds from 2 cardamom while grinding the dates. The baking took me and my home to a heavenly abode hereto unvisited. Absolutely divine smell and taste. Go ahead and add the cardamom next time you bake this cake. I am adding it to the list below :-)

What do you need for Dates cake? 
18-20 dates, pitted/seeds removed
3/4 cup milk - I used organic fat free
1/2 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup the first time but reduced it on my second attempt)
seeds from 2 green cardamoms
1 cup all purpose flour/maida
1 Tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts (walnut, almonds, pecans or a combination)
1/2 cup cooking oil (I used sun flower oil that I normally cook with)

How do you make Dates cake? 

• Soak dates in milk for about 6-8 hours, preferably overnight. (See Notes below if you are pressed for time)
• Grind soaked dates and milk along with the sugar & cardamom seeds in a blender to get a smooth paste. 
• Sift flour with baking soda and keep ready. 
• Pour the dates paste into a wide mouthed bowl, add oil and mix it well with a spoon. 
• Add flour and baking soda slowly and keep stirring with a spoon. 
• At this point, I used my hand blender and gave the mixture a whirl for about 2 minutes. You can use a hand whisk or even a spoon to give it a good mix. 

• Fold in the chopped nuts. 
• Heat the oven at 350F, prepare a 8 inch pan with cooking spray.
• Pour the mixture into the pan, bake it for 20-25 minutes until a knife comes out clean. 

• Take it out of the oven, let it cool before slicing. 

Notes: 

• If you are in a hurry, luke warm the milk and soak dates for 2 hours. The dates will actually start to melt into the milk.
• You do not see nuts in the pictures as there were kids with nut allergies at the party, but adding nuts not only makes it flavorful but gives an additional healthy boost. 
• Exact baking time may vary based on your oven, baking pan etc, so keep a watch from 20 min onwards.