Badam Halwa- an Indian dessert

This halwa brings back memories of my childhood days which I spent in Andhra, whenever I visited my friends house on any occasion, this halwa was always the main attraction. This is a common sweet in almost all the households, which is made with loads and loads of ghee.

In this recipe, the almonds are soaked in water and then ground to a fine paste. Some will grind it coarsely to get the nutty feeling while eating the halwa, but I like it this way. This paste is added in the sugar syrup and mixed till it turns thick. We can shape it in whichever way we want. We find this mostly in the shape of diamond.

So since I saw quite a bit of almonds lying in my pantry, the first thing that clicked to me was this recipe and so I referred to some sites and got an idea of how to make it and started the process and result is before you. Do try this special, rich dessert for any occasion. I am sure that all will love this.

Ingredients:

1. Badam / Almonds- 1 cup
2. Sugar- 1 Cup
3. Water- 1cup
4. Ghee / Clarified Butter- ½  cup
5. Yellow food colour- a pinch
6. Cardamom powder- 1tsp

Method:

1. Soak the almonds in water for few hours and peel off the skin. Grind it to a fine paste and keep this aside.
2. Take a thick bottomed pan or a non stick kadai. Add sugar and water and  let the water boil and the sugar should dissolve well.
3. Lower the flame and add the badam paste, mix well to avoid lumps. Add the yellow food colour and cardamom powder and stir it well for some more minutes.
4. Add ghee in regular intervals and keep stirring until the halwa starts to leave the sides of the pan.
5. Slowly the halwa stops sticking to the kadai, stir well. At this point remove from fire and pour it into greased plate and let it cool.
6. Once it is completely cooled keep this in refrigerator. The next day we can shape them as needed. This can be stored in refrigerator for a week. Yummy dessert is ready.