Almond Chocolate Burfi (Fudge)

          Happy Diwali ! I had a small break from blogging, not an intended one, but was a little tired from my US trip. Well, now back to routine, I made this burfi two days back and made it two layered with a chocolate layer on the top. This is a very easy one, especially if you have the already peeled and sliced almonds in hand, saves the time of soaking and peeling the almonds and the whole cooking process is under 30 minutes..

Need To Have

• Sliced Almonds - 4 cups when powdered
• Sugar - 2 cups
• Cocoa Powder - 3 teaspoons
• Ghee - 2 teaspoons

Method

          Powder the sliced almonds in a blender, I had roughly 4 cups (loosely packed) of almond powder. Take the sugar and 1 cup of water, bring it to a boil and mix till the sugar dissolves completely, switch off the stove and add the almond powder and mix well. Take half of it and keep it aside.

          Put the remaining half back on the stove and keep mixing. When it starts coming together like a thick mass and you can see the sugar starting to dry a little, mix in the two teaspoon of ghee. Immediately transfer to a plate greased with some ghee, and spread it smoothly.

          Now take the second half and add the 3 teaspoons of cocoa powder, mix well and keep stirring on the stove, still it forms a thick mass. Now spread this on top of the first white layer and smooth out evenly and press some sliced almonds on top. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, then make slices and leave it undisturbed for at least half an hour, then slowly remove the slices.

Note
If using whole almonds, first soak them in hot water for about half an hour, then peel them. Grind them with as little water or milk, add the sugar and mix, rest of the procedure is the same as the above.
Do not make the mixture too dry, otherwise the burfi will become too hard.
Ghee is clarified butter, readily available in Indian stores, though you can make your own at home.
I didn't measure the almonds before grinding, and it's better to measure the powder and add the sugar accordingly.
When you remove the slices, if they break, leave for some more time to dry and then remove the slices.