Badam Halwa | Diwali Sweets

Badam Halwa brings more and more beautiful memories from past. My ammumma is an expert in making these delicious badam halwa. She always prepares for my birthdays. whenever she prepares, i used to be on her side observing what she does without talking. Both my ammumma and my avva(great grand mom) wont allow me to talk while they make sweets. that way they put all their attention into it. Yes now i also expect the same and its very important to be so cautious every minute while making this halwa. 

Starting this Diwali on a Sweet Note: Enjoy each day and Make it Worthy!

I love the wrapping part very much, it makes kids go crazy over the halwa. As a kid, I used to assist my grand father and grand mom in wrapping up these halwa. My son loved very much like his mom.

Coming to the halwa, you need to be very care full at two points. one is at sugar string consistency and the other one is to check whether the halwa is done or not. I have given my observations to help you. do let me know if you have any other points to look for.

Badam Halwa (yields 12 pieces, each of 20 gms approx)

Ingredients:

Badam / Almond – ½ cup (4 0z)

Cashew – ¼  cup (2 oz)

Ghee – 8 tbsp’s

Lemon Yellow Food Colour – a small pinch

Saffron – few strands

For Sugar Syrup:            

  

Sugar – ¾ cup (7 oz)  (you can add 1 cup(8 oz) of sugar, if you prefer sweeter halwa)

Water – ¾ cup

Method:

Boil a cup of water, add badam to it, let it boil for 2 mins. If the badam is aged,  it floats on top, therefore you can proceed to peel its skin.

If the badams don’t float, it means they are new, so you have to give soaking time for badams  from 1-2hrs. After 2 hrs rub their skin off.

First Grind the cashews into a coarse powder, remove the grounded into a bowl and set aside.

Secondly, Grind the soaked and skinned badam into a coarse paste with little water(about 6 tbsp’s). The coarse paste should be like the one as grainy as shown in the pic above. I prefer halwa to be grainy than so smooth. this gives a nice texture to the halwa.

Now heat a thick bottomed kadaai, add ¾ sugar. ¾ water so that the sugar immerses in water. Make sugar syrup till it reaches single string consistency.

How to check single string consistency?

 Once the Sugar Syrup starts boiling, switch over to medium flame, keep on checking the syrup every 30 seconds. It may take from 3-5 minutes in medium low flame to attain the single string consistency.

Swipe a little syrup with your pointing finger, rub it with thumb and stretch the two fingers slowly, you will get a single string.

Once the Sugar Syrup reaches single string consistency, add the grounded badam and cashew to the syrup and mix well with a slotted spoon. Make sure you break the lumps formed.

Keep stirring the halwa in medium flame for about 5 -7 minutes.

In Between, the halwa gets thicker and starts sticking to the kadaai. At this stage, you can start adding ghee 1 tbsp at a time in 1 minute intervals.

Slowly the halwa stops sticking to the kadaai and when ghee is added, halwa absorbs the ghee little later.

Add lemon yellow food colour and saffron strands to the halwa and mix well.

How to test whether halwa is done or not?

Take a small pinch of halwa with your fingers. You should be able to shape the halwa into a small ball without sticking.

Once the halwa is done, remove to a bowl. Cut the Butter Paper by 20 cm X 10 cm. 

place halwa in between, fold all sides.

Since no milk is added in halwa, this keeps well for 4-5 days. store the halwa in room temperature. 

The Next day, halwa gets little firmer and it will look like,

Hope you all enjoyed my Badam halwa, guess it was a virtual treat for all, Try it out and enjoy my most loved dessert.

Thank You Ammumma!! I wish i could have done better!