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 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.
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
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.
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.
Related Recipes
Badam halwa recipe
Badam halwa
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- ¾ cup badam / almonds (or 1 cup blanched almond flour)
- ½ cup sugar (1 tbsp more for sweeter halwa)
- 1 pinch saffron or kesar (optional) or natural food color
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder or ealichi
- ¾ cup water or milk (1¼ cup for Instant pot)
- ¼ to ½ cup ghee or 2 to 3 tbsp virgin coconut oil
- ¼ tsp rose water optional
Instructions
Preparation
- You can skip this section if using almond flour. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a pot. Add badam and leave them for 2 to 3 minutes. Then drain the water and soak them in fresh water for 30 to 40 mins. Peel off the skin.
- Add badam to a mixer jar. Blend badam, cardamoms, sugar, saffron with milk or water to a slightly coarse paste. Usually badam halwa is slightly of fine rava texture.
How to make badam halwa
- Heat a nonstick pan or heavy bottom pan with 3 tbsp of the ghee.
- Add the ground badam paste & cook stirring consistently till the halwa thickens.
- Next add the rest of the ghee & keep stirring nonstop. The mixture will begin to leave the sides of the pan.
- Switch off when it is of pouring consistency yet thick. It will thicken further upon cooling. Lastly add a spoon of ghee.
Instant pot badam halwa
- Press SAUTE button on the Instant pot and pour ghee to the steel insert.
- Then add the almond flour & saute for 2 mins. Press CANCEL button & add sugar, water/ milk & saffron.
- Whisk it well to break any lumps & to dissolve the sugar.
- Secure the Instant pot with the lid & position the steam release vent to sealing.
- Press PRESSURE COOK button & set the timer to 0 mins (ZERO).
- The IP beeps when it is done. Gently do a quick release by moving the steam release vent to venting from sealing.
- Add the cardamom powder & Press SAUTE button. Saute until the badam halwa thickens slightly. Do not leave it unattended. If needed switch to low saute by pressing the saute button again.
- Next add the rest of the ghee & saute. The halwa will begin to release the sides of the pot.
- Press CANCEL button when it reaches a thick yet of pouring consistency. (refer video)
Notes
- If you have blanched almonds soak them for about 2 hours & blend.
- To get the same runny consistency as sold in South Indian sweet stalls & tiffin centers, you will need to use upto 3/4 cup ghee.
- Lesser ghee in the halwa makes it too dense.
- I doubled the recipe when I made the video.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Maya says
came out great…thanks!!
Vaidehimurugan says
Shall I experiment with itraw sugar (browny) ..how much sugar it requires to do .if so.???
swasthi says
I haven’t tried. It should work with the same amount
Rithika says
Hi Swathi,
I love all your recipes that I have tried so far. Planning to make this for Ganesh Chathurthi. I have natural almond four (not blanched). Can I use that?
swasthi says
Hi Rithika
Thank you! Yes it should be fine. If making in instant pot, it may need more water. Hope you enjoy it.
ManSha says
Absolutely phenomenal outcome! Thank you so much, Swathi!!!
swasthi says
You are welcome
Glad to know! Thank you
Anne Jackson says
I love these recipes and they keep my love of Indian food easily available to me an easy to follow and make. I always look forward to seeing this in my inbox. Thankyou so much
swasthi says
Hi Anne Jackson
You are welcome! So glad to know! Thank you so much!
Seema says
Love this recipe. Thanks a lot for posting easy to make recipes. Are there any recipes using panakarkandu? Or can I use it as substitute for sugar or anything? I have huge stock since hubby brought them by mistake instead of something else I had asked
swasthi says
Hi Seema,
You are welcome. You can use it to make any recipe just like sugar or jaggery. It has a very long shelf life. Keep it in a air tight steel box.
Jyoti says
Looks Delicious. Can I add some cashews for blending?
swasthi says
Yes you can add a handful. You may need to add more sugar. Thanks for rating
Shalini says
Yummy 😋. Love this. Will be trying this soon.
Shalini says
Thank you so much it came out good
swasthi says
Welcome Shalini
Tha rani devi says
Nice recipe. ..I tried .but it is slight sticky..pls tell me what goes wrong
swasthi says
Hi Rani devi,
Do you mean sticky from the sugar? May be it got overcooked. Just add some hot water and ghee. Mix and heat it.
Shashi says
Hai it’s toooo yammy mouth watering. I should try dis
swasthi says
Thanks Shashi
vidya says
Can we use palm sugar instead of white sugar? Will we get the same result?
swasthi says
Vidya
It doesn’t turn out good with jaggery or palm sugar. You can try this badam burfi with palm sugar
Vandana says
Loved your collection of recipes. All are simple… Thank you so much!
swasthi says
Welcome Vandana
Thanks a lot
nijwmswrang says
Hii..can i use jaggery instead of sugar ..?
Jo says
Delicious turned out great
sumana says
tasty, yummy, thank you
preethi says
Do u have any coaching class.. Now a days I am more interested to learn fine traditional way of cooking.. Could u please help me swasthi
swasthi says
Preethi,
blogging is a way i relax myself, not a profession as such for me. I only share recipes, no plans to train.
🙂
preethi says
Sorry to ask as I am new to your recipes but I like it alother may I know whether u got any book or app for ur recipes please
swasthi says
Hello preethi,
As of now nothing as such. Planning for a ebook soon. Subscribe to my recipes on the side bar, you will know when i share my ebook. Iam glad you like my recipes.Thanks a lot
ramya says
Yummy halwa
swasthi says
Thanks Ramya
Rumana says
Halwa looks so so delicious…
swasthi says
Thank you Rumana
Misbah shaikh says
My…halwa..turned.wrong.its……not…come..as.expected…what…should.i.do…..it’s…tasting..like..a…flour
swasthi says
Hi Misbah
There is no flour used in the recipe, then wonder how you got the flour taste. Looks like you have not cooked it enough. Add little more ghee and continue to cook further until the ghee sepeartes
Misbah shaikh says
Thank you..so..much…..I…have…a….dessert…day ..in.college…hope…it…helps