Badam halwa recipe (almond halwa)

By swasthi , on February 20, 2020, 37 Comments, Jump to Recipe

Badam halwa recipe with video & step by step photos. Badam halwa is a classic Indian sweet made with ground almonds, sugar, ghee, cardamoms & saffron. It is extremely rich, delicious & colorful. Badam halwa is quite popular in South Indian tiffin centers and sweet stalls. It is considered to be a very special dessert & is prepared during special occasions. It is also given as a return gift during wedding & religious ceremonies.

badam halwa garnished with saffron & served in a black bowl

Badam is the Indian name for almonds and halwa refers to a pudding. Traditionally it was made by soaking almonds in water, then peeled & later ground to a paste. This is then cooked with ghee & sugar. Lastly flavored with cardamoms and saffron.

Making badam halwa following the traditional method needs a lot of patience as almond skin needs to be peeled before blending. So an easier way is to use store bought blanched almonds or almond flour/meal.

Pure ghee, cardamoms and saffron are the key ingredients that make this dessert the best. In sweet stalls & tiffin centers saffron is replaced with food color. Some places also use edible camphor to flavor the dessert. Here are some details that may help you:

Step-by-step photos

Preparation

1. Soak almonds for about 3 to 4 hours. To quicken the process, you can also boil 2 cups of water. Then add almonds to it. Leave for 2 mins and drain the water. Then soak in fresh water for 30 to 40 mins.

2. Peel off the skin and rinse them. Its easy to peel the skin if they are soaked well.But do not over soak them, the halwa turns sticky if soaked for very long.

3. Add almonds, water or milk, skinned cardamoms and saffron to the blender jar. I also added sugar at this stage as it helps to blend the almonds easily and prevents the badam halwa from turning lumpy.

4. Make a slightly coarse paste like rava. Badam halwa is usually of a fine rava texture.

How to make badam halwa

5. Heat a heavy bottom pan or preferably nonstick pan. Add ghee.

6. Pour the ground almond paste.

7. Constantly stir and cook.

8. Very soon the badam will begin to leave the sides. Add the sugar at this stage if you have not added while blending.

9. If you have used saffron, you will begin to see the halwa getting better color as it is cooking and blending well with sugar.It got a better color now after cooking for about 8 minutes. When it thickens, add little more ghee and stir. Add ghee in intervals twice or thrice. You should not stop stirring to prevent burning.

almond halwa cooking and blending well with sugar

10. Keep cooking until badam halwa leaves the sides of the pan. Then turn off the stove. The halwa thickens when it cools down.

Badam halwa is ready. Garnish with sliced cashews.

Tips

Almonds: This recipe can be made with either whole almonds or with almond flour. For years I have made badam halwa by soaking, peeling and then blending the almonds. In the recent times I have been making this with store bought blanched almond flour.

Follow my step wise photo guide if using whole almonds. Check the video if you are using almond flour. This time I made it in an Instant pot using store bought flour but you can also make it on stovetop using a regular pot.

Ghee: Usually badam halwa is made to a thick pouring consistency which is possible only with the use of lots of ghee. Traditional recipe mostly uses ghee and almonds in 1:1 ratio which is the key to get that consistency. But I haven’t used so much here. More details in the recipe notes.

To make the recipe vegan replace the ghee with coconut oil.

Saffron: You can skip the saffron and add a large pinch of turmeric or organic food color. Do not add a lot for a deep color as it may change the flavor.

Cardamoms: Most Indian desserts are flavored with cardamom powder. However you can also use a tsp of edible rose water or kewra water for the fragrance.

More Indian recipes using almonds
Badam burfi
Badam milk
Badam kheer

Related recipes: Diwali Sweets Recipes and Diwali Snacks

More Halwa recipes
Carrot halwa
Moong dal halwa
Lauki halwa
Sheera / suji halwa

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