Magaj or magas recipe – Gujarati style of making besan burfi. It is made from ghee, coarse chickpea flour, and sugar.
Instead of setting it in a burfi form, you can also make ladoo as well. I have mentioned the steps in the instructions. It is just a matter of shape. Taste and texture will be the same.
You will get grainy texture in every bite because of the coarse chickpea flour. Yes, traditionally coarse variety is used to make magas. The procedure is almost the same as besan ladoo. The only difference is the flour used. While making besan ladoo, regular besan (gram flour) used, unlike magaj.
Coarse chickpea flour – for those who don’t know, there is special chickpea flour only for magaj. In India, you will find it very easily. Here in the USA, it says ‘maghaj flour’ on the packet. For your reference here is the one that I bought from the Indian grocery store. If you are not able to find it in your area, you can use regular besan (gram flour) as well. But the texture and taste will be different. [If using besan: mix 1 tablespoon of melted ghee in 1 cup chickpea flour. Rub it with your fingertips. Keep it aside for 15 minutes. Then pass it through a fine sieve to create a grainy texture. And use in the recipe.
As a child, I have enjoyed the Diwali festival most. I was always waiting for this festival for two reasons. one is I will get a big holiday vacation in the school and second I will get to eat snacks and sweets. My mom always makes few sweets at home like this magas, gulab jamun, coconut ladoo, and nankhatai.
Today I am sharing mom’s recipe for making magas. She makes the big batch and keeps in the fridge. As this has a good 15 days shelf life if stored in the fridge.
How to make besan burfi or magaj recipe?
1) Grease tray or plate (in which you are going to set the burfis) with little ghee.
2) Heat the ghee in a pan on medium-low heat.
3) Once hot add chickpea flour.
4) And sauté it with stirring continuously till the flour becomes golden brown.
5) It will take about 4-5 minutes. You will get a nice aroma of the toasted flour. Ghee will starts to ooze out from the sides. Also, it gets a slightly dark brown color.
6) When done turn off the stove.
7) Add sugar.
8) Mix very well.
9) Add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder.
10) Mix it well again.
11) Transfer the mixture into a greased tray and spread it evenly. (I have used 5×3 inches plastic container. I will get 6 pieces out of this and kept some mixture to make ladoo. Just because I wanted to show you that you can make ladoo out of it as well.)
12) garnish it with the almonds.
13) Let it cool for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. And ladoo mixture is also cooled enough in 30 minutes to form ladoo. Shape into ladoo with using your palms. Once cooled completely. Then slice it with a sharp knife.
14) Remove them very gently without breaking it. The first piece is always hard to remove. But lucky me, I removed it without breaking.
15) Serve them right away or store in the container.
Many prefer to have it warm magaj with a bowl and spoon. But I like it at room temperature.
Serving suggestion: It usually served as a sweet (1 piece per person) along with the meal. It is served on special occasions or festivals like Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, Bhaidooj. If you have refrigerated it, then I would suggest heat it in microwave only for 3 seconds just before serving, It will taste the same as freshly made. If you like warm magaj then you can heat it for more time as well. But I prefer the room temperature one.
Check out Gujarati sweet recipes
Sukhdi // Shrikhand // Basundi // Kuler
Magaj recipe (Gujarati magas recipe) Besan burfi recipe
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 cup Coarse chickpea flour (magaj atta)
- ½ cup White granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Green cardamom seeds powder
- a pinch or ⅛ teaspoon Freshly grated nutmeg
- few Almonds sliced for garnishing
Instructions
- Grease tray or plate (in which you are going to set the burfis) with little ghee.
- Heat the ghee in a pan on medium-low heat.
- Once hot add chickpea flour. And sauté it with stirring continuously till the flour becomes golden brown.
- It will take about 4-5 minutes. You will get nice a aroma of the toasted flour. Ghee will starts to ooze out from the sides. Also it gets a slightly dark brown color.
- When done turn off the stove.
- Add sugar. Mix very well.
- Add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder. Mix it well again.
- Transfer the mixture into a greased tray and spread it evenly. You can make ladoo with same.
- garnish it with the almonds.
- let it cool for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- If making ladoo then 30 minutes is enough cooling time to form ladoo. Shape into ladoo with using your palms.
- Once the burfi is cooled completely. Then slice it with a sharp knife.
- Remove them very gently without breaking it.
Regneel
I followed this recipe to the “T” three times and it doesn’t set right. When cooking the consistency doesn’t look like your pictures. It’s very crumbly and dry. It seems that there’s not enough ghee. I’m not sure 1/3 cup ghee is the correct amount.
Kanan
It happens it the flour is old (not fresh). Stale flour absorbs more hence the crumbly texture.
In that case increase the amount of ghee to about 1/2 cup instead of 1/3 cup.
Dhwani
When do you add sugar??
I added sugar to hot besan after switching off the stove and the mixture doesn’t seem to be set (after an hour)
What did I do wrong?
Kanan
it should set.
You can pop it into the fridge for some time, so the ghee will solidify and you can make pieces.
Meera
Is there a substitute for ghee? I want to make a vegan version please.
Kanan
not that I know. Without ghee there will be no binding. it will stay crumbly.
Max
Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread is an option
Kanan
yes, that is a vegan option. It sure works in baking But not sure it will work in this recipe
Geetha
can I use ‘gud’ instead of suger?
Kanan
Never tried with gud. So not sure,
SJ
Can i use laddoo besan ?
Kanan
yes you can