Badam Halwa | Badam halwa in packets | Badam ka Halwa - Celebrating 3 beautiful years!

Badam Halwa Recipe

Another year & another reason to celebrate life with my beloved. Its been three years since we said 'I do' and its truly special day for us this year since we had the privileged to celebrate this day with both our parents. I prepared a feast for them and my dad and mom were sure so very happy and excited to sit and enjoy a full spread meal served by their own daughter. I consider this a great thing since its hard to do something like this atleast for me. And of course my husband enjoyed the feast and kept telling my dad ' How is my wife's cooking' :P sometimes I get stuck between these men and their talks. Nevertheless this year was sure special and will carry this memory for a lifetime. So among the feast that I had made Badam Halwa was on the top list. I served it along their lunch menu of Mutton Biryani, Brinjal Salna, Onion Raita, Tandoori Chicken legs, Boiled eggs, cucumber carrot salad and Cake for dessert. Since I was preparing a huge quantity I specified with few dishes so that I would not delay in serving everyone warm food. The cake recipe will be up next on blog so so look out for it.

Badam Halwa to me brings back fond childhood memories, my parents were part of this yearly club where we spent most weekends and even for lunch/ dinners. And one of the specialities of the club chef was Badam halwa. This melt in mouth sweet is wrapped in butter paper and no one can be satisfied with just one ;-). So I made sure to do more than required since I knew this is our family favourite. There are couple of versions to make badam halwa but this version is best for wrapping them and also serving them as it is. But there is something about wrapping them in butter paper, I found the secret it keeps the badam halwa nice and moist. Since its a milk based sweet make sure to enjoy them within 4 days (incase it lasts that long ) ;-). 

Family Verdict - Its perfect in sweetness and far better than the sweet shop version of loaded ghee.

Saffron Coconut Burfi

Almost every Indian loves coconut burfis and its usually plain and chewy. Well this recipe has its own twist- I have added saffron and also they are not chewy but moist and soft to eat.  If you are looking for a twist and a different sweet recipe for the festive season try these and you are sure to win the hearts of your family and friends

Recipe Source ~ slightly modified Nestle

Makes ~ 8-10 medium sized burfis

 Ingredients

5 tablespoon hot milk (I used semi-skimmed)

Few strands of saffron, approx 15

2 tablespoons ghee (I used KTC)

2 tsp milk powder

1/2 Cup condensed milk (I used Nestle)

2 cups desiccated coconut 

1/4  teaspoon ground cardamom

Few pistachoes for decorating (optional)

Method

• Dissolve Saffron powder in hot milk and set aside.
• In a medium sauce pan over medium heat melt ghee, add Condensed Milk, add desiccated Coconut, milk powder and stir to an even consistency. Let it cook for 1 minute stirring often and making sure it does not get burned. You will find it forming into a thick consistency, more like a dough
• While its hot divide the mixture in two separate bowls, add saffron milk to one and Cardamom to the other part and mix well
• In a square tin/air-tight container, grease the inside with some ghee and layer the cardamom Coconut mixture and flatten it with greased spoon/ greased fingers until smooth on top, top with the saffron coconut mixture and flatten top.
• Place in fridge to cool for 2 hours before cutting the layered Burfi using a greased knife into desired shapes. Place your preffered nuts on top to decorate (optional)
• Keeps fresh for 4-5 days in a air-tight container, take out of the refrigerator 10 minutes before serving.

Tips 

- Use good quality ghee for better flavor 
- Using quality saffron stands gives a wonderful flavor as well us color, if your burfis don't show the color simply add a drop of orange color and mix well

- You can replace condensed milk with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup whole milk, if you desire so
- Adding milk powder is optional, for me the burfi was soft and moist