Happy Valentine's Day

Almond/Badam Halwa

Who doesn’t love Almonds? And there are so many uses of Almonds. You can make Almond Kheer, Almond Milk, Almond Halwa, or add Almonds to Biryani or sprinkle on desserts. And in whatever way you eat them or cook them, they taste awesome. Almonds are a rich source of Vitamin E. They are also rich in monosaturated fat, one of the two "good" fats responsible for lowering LDL Cholesterol.

Think of Badam Halwa, Ravi’s smiling face comes to my mind. He loves all desserts but this one is one of his favorites. Whenever we go to any Indian Restaurant, he looks into the dessert menu for this sweet. I made this on his birthday recently and he loved it and asked me to make this dish at least once a month.

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Almond/Badam Halwa
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Ingredients
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1 cup Almonds
1.5 cups Sugar
3.5 cups of Water
3 Tbsp Ghee
2 Tbsp Milk
Yellow food color
Cardamom Powder (Optional)

1. Boil 2 cups of Water and soak almonds in warm water for half hour.
2. Peel off their skin. This becomes boring after a while, so invite someone to help you.
3. Grind the almonds with the milk
4. Make Sugar Syrup by adding the remaining ½ cup of water to the Sugar.
5. After the Sugar Syrup comes to a boil, add the ground Almond paste and keep stirring to avoid lumps.
6. Add Ghee at regular intervals. You can add more Ghee if you fee like.
7. Keep stirring until the mixture gets thick.
8. Add color and Cardamom powder in the end.
9. When the mixture becomes like a Jam like consistency, remove it from the stove and transfer into the bowl.
10. Garnish with dry fruits in the end. (Optional)
11. Serve hot or cold.

Note:
The cookware you used to make this dish becomes sticky; soak it in hot water before washing.