Badam Halwa - Almond Halwa

Sometimes I like to watch Chef Sanjay cook up stuff on vahrevah.com. His thick South Indian accent and colorful phrases are extremely endearing. His earnestness shines through and I was compelled to try out his recipe for badam (almond) halwa. I reduced the sugar - his prescribed ratio should for almonds to sugar are 1:1 while mine is 2: 1. I personally don’t like my dessert very sweet since it overpowers the other ingredients. He also uses food color which I avoid. However, the halwa was a pleasure with its richness and flavor. I am a big fan of halwas made from lentils but here I used almonds. You can also increase the ghee to 1/2 cup or more for a richer flavor- I just recommended that to my cousin who is dealing with a fussy toddler who has lost weight.

I also made this halwa for my South Indian friend who lives in Hong Kong. This recipe is a South Indian halwa and it makes sense to check with a native. He thought this was the best version he had ever had, primarily because it was not overly sweet.
1 1/4 cups of alomonds - soak overnight
3/4 cups sugar
pinch of saffrom
2 tbspn ghee
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cardomom

1. Peel the soaked almonds. Blend with the milk till you get a coarse batter.
2. In a heavy bottom sauce pan, add 1 tbspn ghee and heat.
3. Add the batter.
4. Add the sugar and after 5 minutes add the saffron.
5. Keep stirring the batter or else it will burn.
6. After a while it starts bubbling and hot liquid starts flying off the pan. Be careful. Add the remaining ghee.
7. Be very careful and keep stirring. The halwa is done when the botton of the pan is clean and no residual sticks to it.
8. Add the ground cardomom seeds.
9. Either lay it out in a greased tray and cut int0 diamond shapes or eat as such.