We recently celebrated our wedding anniversary and I really wanted to make Badam Halwa for our special day. I was nervous about the outcome as I was making it for the first time. This recipe has been passed on by my Grandmother and I have so many fond memories of her preparing it for us during festivals and birthdays. Who doesn’t love badam halwa?

As it is made with ingredients like ghee, full fat milk, saffron and of course, almonds, the richness comes through in every lick of the spoon. You don’t have to put in effort to chew as it just melts in your mouth every single time.

Why wait for a special occasion? Go ahead, make it today and please let me know how it was.

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⏱️ Preparation time: 30 minutes

🥘 Cooking time: 30 minutes

⏳ Total duration: 60 minutes

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Type of meal: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian, South Indian

🍽️ Makes about 12 servings

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Ingredients:

1. Almonds: 1 cup
2. Ghee (Clarified butter): 4 tbsp
3. Full fat whole milk: 1 cup
4. Sugar: 1/2 – 1 cup (as per taste)
5. Saffron: 8 – 10 strands
6. Cardamom powder: 1 tsp (optional)

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Instructions:

• Soak 1 cup of almonds in a bowl of hot water for 15 – 20 mins. Soaking it in hot water will help remove the peel easily.
• Remove the peel and grind the almonds with 1 cup milk. Ensure you do not grind it very finely.

• In a non-stick saucepan, kept on medium to low heat, add 3 tbsp ghee.
• Empty the contents into a non-stick saucepan and stir well so that the the ground paste mixes well with the ghee.
• Add 1/2 to 1 cup sugar and mix well. Add sugar based on your level of sweetness and keep stirring. Once you add sugar, it will start melting. Keep stirring continuously and cook it for about 15 minutes on medium heat.
• In the meantime, in a bowl, add 1 tbsp milk and 8 to 10 saffron strands and mix well and keep it aside.
• As you keep stirring, the paste will begin to thicken and it will start boiling. Now, add the saffron milk and stir well.

• As you keep cooking, the mixture will thicken and leave the sides of the pan. You will notice small holes in the halwa when you stir it.

• The halwa will start coming together and separates from sides of the pan. Add 1 tbsp ghee and cardamom powder (optional) and mix well. Ghee will ooze out from the sides of the pan.
• Your badam halwa is ready. Wait for it to cool down a bit before you taste it.
• Serve it hot garnished with a few chopped almonds

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Notes:

1. Add sugar little by little and stir continuously so that it does not form lumps. After adding sugar, taste the mixture to check the level of sweetness. You may add more sugar if required.
2. In case you feel that it has become very sweet then accordingly add full fat milk and keep mixing till it starts thickening. The more milk you add, the longer it will take to cook it.
3. As you keep cooking, the mixture will start boiling and a few drops will sputter out. Hence, I suggest using a long spatula for cooking the halwa.

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Bon Appetit!