Indian Recipe Community | Badam Halwa | chillimix.com | Almonds, Ghee, Mixture, Add

A sweet, smooth, “melt in your mouth good” dessert made with badam / almonds. This halwa is delicious and is worth every bit of effort. It is easy to make, but requires “patience” and “time” to stir constantly. Make sure you wear full sleeves and oven mittens - there will be quite of bit of splattering!

Ingredients:

3 cups whole badam / almonds

Milk - just enough to grind the almonds

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 pinch saffron

Yellow food color as needed

Ghee - about a cup

Preparation:

Soak the almonds in enough water and microwave on high for about 5 mins.
Let it stands for 10 mins till the skin is loose. Peel the skin from the almonds and set aside.
Grind the almonds to a “COURSE PASTE” with just enough milk to get the grinder / blender working.
Heat the water and sugar in a large NON STICK pot. When the sugar dissolves and 2 heaped tbps of ghee and the coarsely ground almond paste.
Add the saffron and keep stirring continuously.
When the mixture is bubbling, add another 2 tbsps of ghee.
Keep stirring continuously since the mixture can easily stick on the pan bottom and sides and burn. Make sure you keep a safe distance from the pan. (It really hurts when the small hot drops splatter on your skin!)
Add the desired amount of yellow food color to give a rich color. Continue cooking adding more tbsps of ghee as needed and stirring continuously.
The “Halwa” is cooked and ready when most of the liquid has evaporated, the ghee starts separating from the sides and the mixture no longer sticks to the sides and bottom of the pan.
Transfer halwa to a serving dish, garnish with a few saffron strands and enjoy warm.

Tips:

1. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to "stir continuously" and "keep adding tbsps of ghee"! It takes about 1 ½ hrs to make this halwa.

2. The mixture really splatters all over when boiling. So dress the part to protect your skin. Wear full sleeves, oven mittens, pants, covered shoes and if you are like me - sunglasses!

Ease of preparation: Medium

No. of servings: about 15 - 20