Badam halwa recipe – Almond (बादाम) or Badam Halwa/ Pudding is one yummy dessert which can be made for any festival, be it Holi, Diwali, or just simply when you want to feast something healthy (remember almond has host of health benefits).
To make this halwa, all you need to do is soak almonds, grind to paste and then cook with sugar, ghee (clarified butter) and milk. In case you have vegan choice, you can skip milk and instead of ghee can use other oil alternatives like almond oil. Soaking is what contributes to most of the time, but its really idle time, so if you ignore that soaking time this recipe does not take huge time.
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What is badam halwa
Badam is almond and Halwa is pudding. Making a halwa with almond as base is badam halwa.
Because this halwa has ghee and almond as main ingredients, it is full of nutrition. New mums are normally fed this halwa post pregnancy for quick recovery. Almonds has got good amount of proteins, fibre, vitamin-E, manganese and magnesium. Almonds are also loaded with antioxidants.
In this recipe I have used fresh almonds. People also use almond flour, as it saves effort on soaking and peeling almonds. However, the taste and texture is little different. Fresh almonds tastes better.
I have used saffron in my recipe. I love saffron in my recipes, for the fact that not only saffron adds to that nice color but also adds to aroma. You can skip adding saffron, as purely optional.
This badam halwa making is a bit of hand exercise, as you need to constantly stir the halwa whilst cooking.
pro tips for making badam halwa
- Use fresh almonds : Fresh almonds gives the best taste. Soak the almonds for 4 hours. In case you are short of time, use boiling hot water and soak for 2 hours.
- Heavy bottom Pan : Use a heavy bottom, wide mouth pan or kadai.
- Ghee : Good taste comes from decent quantity of ghee. Traditional recipe insists of using 1:1 portion of almond and ghee.
- Add saffron : Saffron provides nice color, and aroma to the halwa. Add a few strands of saffron. You can also use cardamom powder, or kewra water for aromatic essence.
Method
- Wash and soak almonds in enough water for 4 hours and then peel off the skin from almonds.
- Grind these peeled almonds into a semi coarse paste with the help of little milk.
- Now, heat a heavy bottom nonstick pan, and add ghee to it. Add almond paste and cook till it starts oozing out ghee.
- Add saffron milk and sugar to it and stir again, when it starts to thicken add 1 tablespoon of ghee and cardamom powder. Switch off the flame once halwa starts leaving edges of pan and comes together.
This badam halwa
- Is full of nutrition
- great in taste
- requires only few ingredients
- is gluten-free
- can be made vegan by using vegan oil and using almond milk.
Serving suggestion
Serve badam halwa hot with garnishing pieces of nuts like almond, cashew and pistachio.
If you are a halwa lover, you may like the following halwa too:
Recipe card
Almond / Badam Halwa
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Almonds
- 6 Tablespoon Ghee / Clarified Butter
- 4-5 Tablespoon Sugar As per your taste
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder Optional
- Few Strands Saffron Optional
- 3-4 Almonds Chopped – For Garnishing
Instructions
- Wash and soak almonds in enough water for 4 hours. After that peel off the skin from almonds.
- Now grind these peeled almonds into a semi coarse paste with the help of 2-3 tablespoon milk.
- Soak saffron in the rest of the milk (lukewarm).
- Now, heat a nonstick or heavy bottom pan, and add ghee to it. Add almond paste (from step 2) and cook till it starts oozing out ghee. It will easily take 18-20 minutes on medium flame.
- Now add saffron milk and sugar to it and stir again, when it starts to thicken add 1 tablespoon of ghee and Cardamom powder. Switch off the flame once it starts leaving edges of pan and comes together.
- Garnish with shopped Almonds and serve it hot.
Notes
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Always use either a non stick pan or a heavy bottom pan otherwise the halwa will stick to the pan.
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You can adjust the amount of sugar and ghee as per your taste.
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If you forgot to soak almonds earlier, soak them in boiling hot water. In 2 hours they would be ready for grinding.