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Varo
Varo is a traditional Indian recipe for a classic Diwali sweet or candy made from a blend of dried fruit and nuts with poppy seeds in a caramelized sugar base flavoured with cardamom; these also make excellent Christmas treats. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Varo.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
20 minutes
Total Time:
40 minutes
Serves:
6–8
Rating: 
Tags : Vegetarian RecipesSpice RecipesIndian Recipes
In essence this is an Indian version of praline, containing a blend of poppy seeds, fruit and nuts.
Ingredients:
250g sugar
1 tbsp oil
120g mixed dried fruit and nuts (eg cashew nuts, unsalted pistachios, dried coconut shavings, dried dates, dried apricots, crystallized pineapple, dried papaya etc)
2 tbsp poppy seeds
seeds from 3 green cardamom pods
Method:
Slice the dried fruit quite thinly then chop the nuts and mix with the fruit in a bowl.
Rinse the poppy seeds with warm water then drain with a tea strainer. Spread out on a kitchen towel and set aside to dry.
Grease a baking tray liberally with oil (any neutral cooking oil) and set aside.
Mix together the sugar, oil and cardamom seeds in a heavy-based pan or kadai. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts. As soon as the sugar has melted scatter over and stir in the poppy seeds (be careful, the seeds will splutter if still damp).
Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the sugar turns a golden amber colour. Immediately scatter over and stir in the sliced nut and fruit mix.
Take the pan off the heat and spread over your greased baking tray. Tap this lightly on your work surface to remove any bubbles from the sugar syrup.
Set aside to cool completely. When it is cold and hardened you will have a perfectly crisp fruit and nut brittle. Bread into pieces with a small hammer and store these in an airtight container. It will keep for several months.
As well as a traditional Diwali treat, this also makes an excellent home-made Christmas treat or gift.
Find more Diwali Recipes Here and more Christmas recipes here.
