Almond Dessert / Badam Halwa ( பாதாம் ஹல்வா)

Almond Dessert / Badam Halwa

( பாதாம் ஹல்வா)

Ingredients:
Badam / Raw Almond nuts ( பாதாம் பருப்பு)  - 100 g
Sugar ( சக்கரை )  -  75 to 100g ( based on sweet preference)
Saffron strands ( குங்குமப்பூ )  - a few
Warm Milk ( இளம் சூடான பால் ) - 2 or 3 teaspoons
Ghee / Clarified butter ( நெய் ) -  4 tsp

Steps:
Soak the almonds for a minimum of 1 hour. Peel the almonds.

Make a smooth paste of the almonds using a mixer. Add one or two teaspoons of milk if needed

Powder the coarse sugar 

Soak the saffron in a teaspoon of warm milk.

                         

Add 2 tbsp of water to the powdered sugar and let it boil to get one string consistency syrup

Add the almond paste to the sugar syrup. stir well and cook in medium flame.

Constantly stirring, add a teaspoon of ghee. When the halwa leaves the side of the vessel,it will be little flaky in texture, add in the saffron. Mix well and remove from fire.

Badam Halwa is ready to relish   :)

My Notes:

My niece, only daughter in our family, likes this Indian dessert but finds the commercial ones to be too sweet to their taste bud and also everyone agrees with, that it is loaded with a good amount of ghee ;)

So my younger sister used to make this for our niece and everyone in our extended family looks forward to having a spoonful.

This homemade version is less sweet and with less ghee. 

The generous portion of saffron not only gives the rich colour but its unique flavour as well to the dish. Ground almonds will not be like a fine powder, a bit coarse and it is nice to have that feeling while you ruminate the dessert.

Prepare in required quantity and finish it off without refrigerating. Shelf life is 3 to 4 days.

 It tastes one level higher when eaten when it is warm, which we all did. So missed taking a proper picture in serving bowls after it has cooled down

Darling S, this post is dedicated to you. Try this for your Deepavali at Munich.