Cooks Joy

The first thing which comes to my mind when I think of almonds is this halwa. Rich, extremely tasty and not overly sweet are the few things I can use to describe this dessert. So, naturally when Anu announced the “Almond Dessert” event I knew I was going to make this. Added bonus, it is very simple to make and you cannot go wrong. My 3 yr old loved it so much and she kept asking me for “badam sweet” at all times of the day. Initially I gave her teeny teeny balls and she was happy. But, when she saw me make these big ones, she insisted that she wanted big ones. I had to hide few pieces for K and when I gave it to him, she promptly declared she was going to share with Appa !!!.

Anyway, the story went on until I showed her the empty bowl. My son on the other hand did not care for this sweet at all. He is more like me when it comes to dessert. But, this halwa is so addictive and I was sneaking in few pieces now and then. I have used around 2 tbsp of ghee, but you can use more for a richer sweet.

Festival season is almost here and it is time to indulge in these sweets. Let’s kick start the festival season with some yummy treats, shall we?

Linking to B&W Wednesday started by Susan.

Ingredients
1/2 cup almonds
5 tbsp milk to grind
3/4 cup sugar added to 1/4 cup boiling water
1.5 tbsp to 2 tbsp ghee

References
Recipe source : Saffron Hut

Notes
1. For 1 cup of almond paste, add 1.5 cups of sugar. I halved the original recipe and had only 1/2 cup of paste and I used 3/4 cup of sugar.
2. If the mixture does not solidify, pop into the fridge and it will solidify.

Method
Boil say 2 cups of water and add the almonds to it and let it sit for an hour.

Drain the water.

You should be able to pop the skin right off the almonds.

All almonds peeled and ready.

Take in a blender.

Add milk a tbsp at a time and puree the badams. I went for a smooth paste since K likes it that way. I used around 5 tbsp of milk.

Heat 1/4 cup water and add the sugar. Bring to a boil.

Add the almond paste to the boiling sugar syrup.

Keep stirring so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add ghee in intervals and keep stirring until the mixture thickens to a jam like consistency.

See how it is all coming together. When you mix you can see the halwa move much easily and is no longer a paste. Turn off the stove when it reaches this jam like consistency. It will solidify further on cooling.

It took around 15 minutes for me to reach this stage. (From the time the paste is added to sugar syrup)

After 1/2 an hour see how thick it has become. You can serve it as is in bowls or roll into small balls. While warm roll into balls and allow to cool further.