Coconut Burfi

Continuing with my winter Sunday tradition, this week's sweet thang is coconut burfi.  It's a variation of the Sesame Burfi I made last month, but this time I actually sifted the besan.  I always thought sifting flour was a useless step, but with thick flours such as besan or even whole wheat, it's best to sift to avoid clumping.  I didn't make my own condensed milk this time, but I did use a cardamom pod that I dry roasted and ground.  It does make a big difference.  Cardamom doesn't lose its fragrance with time but it does lose its flavor if ground too far ahead of time.  I' starting to get dangerously used to quality ingredients and methods... It's getting harder and harder to please me with the basics.  Luckily, quality doesn't necessarily mean pricey.  The best things in life are free... 
Ingredients: 
2 1/2 cups (240g) sifted chickpea flour
4 Tbsp oil
4 Tbsp butter (100g)

1 1/4 cup dried coconut (125g)

1 cardamom pod, roasted and ground
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (397g)
Directions:
1.  In a deep pan, melt the butter and oil.  Stir in the chickpea flour a little at a time, as if you were making a roux.  Eventually the mixture will be more floury than liquidy.  That's what you want.
2.  Lower the heat and keep stirring, breaking up the lumps for 10 minutes, then stir in the coconut and cook stirring for another 10 minutes until the flour is slightly colored an a nice nutty aroma is wafting through your home (or just your kitchen if your home is designed for you to be banished from the rest of the house when you're in the kitchen).  Oh wow I just had a flashback.  Open kitchens are psychologically more adapted to help prevent the cook from getting schizo.  Sometimes it takes more than that though...
3.  Turn off heat, stir in the cardamom, then the condensed milk.  Try not to eat spoonfuls of it before pouring it in.  That is reprimandable behavior.
4.  When incorporated, quickly dump the mixture into a parchment paper lined baking dish.  Cover it all with more parchment paper and with a towel, press into a compact rectangular shape, 3/4 in thick. Let cool at least 20 minutes in the fridge before cutting into "pretty" diamond shapes.

That chickpea flour aftertaste is quite pleasant.  After eating a piece, you will immediately reminisce, try to describe it to youself, fail, then eat another piece.
I think I like this version better than the sesame version.