Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research, volume 34 issue 1 (march 2015) : 1-7

Practices followed by halwais to manufacture fig burfi in Maharashtra, India

D.K. Kamle, D.D. Patange*, D.M. Choudhari, V.A. Kale
1College of Agriculture, Kolhapur-416 004, India.
Cite article:- Kamle D.K., Patange* D.D., Choudhari D.M., Kale V.A. (2024). Practices followed by halwais to manufacture fig burfi in Maharashtra, India. Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research. 34(1): 1-7. doi: 10.5958/0976-0563.2015.00001.9.
The fig burfi is a variety of burfi prepared and marketed in Maharashtra and a milk product preferred by the rich section of population. The preparation of fig burfi is a small scale industry and large variations were found in processing steps and ingredients used during manufacture of fig burfi. To know the variation in practices, twenty four halwais from semi-urban, urban and metro market were selected and information from them was collected on pre-structured questionnaires. Most of the halwais (66.67%) used vendor milk for preparation of fig burfi, however, they did not standardize the milk to any fat percentage. Majority of the halwais (70.83 %) used LPG as source of fuel and most of them used non jacketed karahi for preparation of fig burfi. None of the halwais showed preference for any variety or brand of fig to be added in manufacture of fig burfi. However, majority of halwais added dry chaffed fig at the rate 5 to 10 g per L. of milk at pat formation stage of khoa during the manufacture of fig burfi. The addition of synthetic flavour by the halwais was rarely found. Regarding marketing of fig burfi, 62.50 per cent of halwais cut the burfi in square shape pieces weighing about 30-35g. each, wrapped with parchment paper and packed in cardboard boxes. About 41.67 per cent of halwais stored the fig burfi till marketing at 16-200C and nearly half of the halwais did not store the product for more than 2 days, may be due to market demand for fresh fig burfi. The prevailing sale price of fig burfi was in the range of Rs. 150 to 250 per kg depending on the quality of product and location of shop in the market.
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