What is Badam Halwa?
Badam halwa is a rich halwa made with blanched almond flour, ghee, sugar, and spices. I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, but if not, the word badam means almond. This is a dessert that traditionally takes a loooong time to make – it’s mostly reserved for special occasions. But with this shortcut recipe, you can enjoy almond halwa any time you want. Back in the day, in order to make an Indian dessert with almonds, my mom would first soak the nuts in a bowl of water overnight and then in the morning, painstakingly peel the skin off of them – one by one. Sometimes I’d join her, but I’d end up eating all of the almonds I’d peel as well as some of the one’s mom peeled. I wasn’t very helpful, lol. Thankfully these days, you can find blanched almond flour at nearly every grocery store. I buy it in bulk from Costco. Most of the time I don’t even go to the store anymore. I get groceries delivered right to my door. To go from peeling almonds one at a time to this… in my lifetime, well, that feels pretty incredible. Almond flour alone is a huge shortcut when it comes to making badam halwa, but when you combine that with the capabilities of an instant pot, well, I’m not sure this dessert can get any easier to make.
Turmeric in Halwa?
I’m using turmeric in my recipe for badam halwa. You know what I find crazy? That so many stores/people still use yellow food coloring in badam halwa. WHY? We have turmeric! It’s natural and stains everything yellow, mainly the things we don’t want to stain, at least in my house haha – clothes, carpets, countertops, fingernails. The minimal amount of turmeric here is not going to make a difference in flavor, but it will make the halwa look more yellow. Like a little bowl of sunshine.
Here’s How to Make Badam Halwa:
Figuring out this recipe was humbling. You’d think that if I could figure out how to make Kaju Katli, Kalakand, and Besan Burfi in an Instant Pot, this halwa would be a piece of cake? But no. It took me so long to get the ratio of almond flour to sugar to ghee just right. While this recipe will work even if you adjust the ingredients a bit, the ratios I have listed in the recipe card below make for the best badam halwa. Okay, here’s how we’re going to make it! First, toast the almond flour. Then set it aside and make sugar syrup by combining sugar, water, turmeric, and saffron. Pressure cook. Remove the lid and add ghee, cardamom, and the toasted almond flour you had set aside earlier. Mix it all up! Enjoy it as is – or, let it cool, then pour the halwa into a small steel bowl, then flip it out onto a small plate. Garnish with sliced almonds, chopped green pistachios, and saffron.
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