Almond Halwa:-) Wishing everyone a happy and safe Diwali!
The problem I encounter when I think about a recipe to blog is that of having to rummage my fridge and the shelves... for ONE TEASPOON of sugar (we, as a family, dont take sugar as such!) or ONE green chilli... or even HALF an onion... or ONE tomato. That explains how erratic a shopper I am! Either short of one ingredient or maybe two, always with a recipe. That also explains my erratic blogging. I think about blogging a lot, but chance upon the deficiencies of cooking up a recipe in my kitchen, due to the inefficient shopper and housekeeper I turn out to be, and procrastinate... And procastinate... And I have procrastinated for over a month now... Till I have finally decided to put up a post on a Diwali sweet:-)
Almond Halwa! An Indian sweetmeat made with Almonds! A definite-try recipe if you have a sweet tooth (and do keep a dentist's number in hand). As usual, with the latest of my recipes, I have added step by step pictures, but have left out on a few, like showing the single-string consistency of sugar, the addition of yellow colour, clarified butter... etc. Please excuse me, I run a one woman show without a help:-(
INGREDIENTS:
Raw Almonds - 1 cup
Raw Cashewnuts - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Clarified Butter - 6 tablespoons
Yellow Food Colour - a pinch (if using the powder type) or 1/4 teaspoon (if using the liquid type)
Saffron - a few strands
METHOD:
Take the raw almonds and soak them in 1 cup of boiling water for about an hour (pic 1 and 2).
Keep aside the raw cashewnuts aside.
Peel the soaked almonds, they peel very easily (pic 4).
Grind the cashewnuts into a powder in a mixie (pic 5).
Grind the almonds into a coarse paste adding very little water (pic 6).
Take a pan and put in the sugar along with the water (pic 7 and 8).
Boil the sugar syrup and once it starts boiling, reduce the flame, and keep stirring till it comes to a single-string consistency. (When you take a bit of the sugar syrup between your thumb and the pointer, rub it, and slowly bring both the fingers apart, you can see a single string of the syrup between the fingers. This is the single-string consistency of the sugar syrup.)
As the syrup reaches the single-string consistency, add the ground almonds and cashewnuts (pic 10).
Keep stirring on medium flame for 3 to 4 minutes. As the mixture starts coming together without sticking to the pan, add the clarified butter, one tablespoon at a time.
Keep stirring at medium flame.
Add the yellow food colour, mix well (pic 12).
As you see the mixture forming a lump (all the time on medium flame), switch the fire off.
When you take a bit of the mixture between your fingers, you will be able to make a ball out of it. This is the right consistency showing the halwa is ready.
Transfer into a bowl and put the saffron strands on top.
And it is done!
It stays well even outside the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days and inside the refrigerator for... well... weeks, I would say! Lovely dessert fix for an impromptu dinner, right? Rich and lovely! Perfect for an occassion and what occassion is better than Diwali, the Indian festival of lights to make this delectable Almond Halwa?
And if you do indulge... do remember about the dentist I was talking about earlier:-)
Lots of love and happiness!
Almond Halwa! An Indian sweetmeat made with Almonds! A definite-try recipe if you have a sweet tooth (and do keep a dentist's number in hand). As usual, with the latest of my recipes, I have added step by step pictures, but have left out on a few, like showing the single-string consistency of sugar, the addition of yellow colour, clarified butter... etc. Please excuse me, I run a one woman show without a help:-(
INGREDIENTS:
Raw Almonds - 1 cup
Raw Cashewnuts - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Clarified Butter - 6 tablespoons
Yellow Food Colour - a pinch (if using the powder type) or 1/4 teaspoon (if using the liquid type)
Saffron - a few strands
METHOD:
Take the raw almonds and soak them in 1 cup of boiling water for about an hour (pic 1 and 2).
Keep aside the raw cashewnuts aside.
Peel the soaked almonds, they peel very easily (pic 4).
Grind the cashewnuts into a powder in a mixie (pic 5).
Grind the almonds into a coarse paste adding very little water (pic 6).
Boil the sugar syrup and once it starts boiling, reduce the flame, and keep stirring till it comes to a single-string consistency. (When you take a bit of the sugar syrup between your thumb and the pointer, rub it, and slowly bring both the fingers apart, you can see a single string of the syrup between the fingers. This is the single-string consistency of the sugar syrup.)
As the syrup reaches the single-string consistency, add the ground almonds and cashewnuts (pic 10).
Keep stirring on medium flame for 3 to 4 minutes. As the mixture starts coming together without sticking to the pan, add the clarified butter, one tablespoon at a time.
Keep stirring at medium flame.
Add the yellow food colour, mix well (pic 12).
As you see the mixture forming a lump (all the time on medium flame), switch the fire off.
When you take a bit of the mixture between your fingers, you will be able to make a ball out of it. This is the right consistency showing the halwa is ready.
Transfer into a bowl and put the saffron strands on top.
And it is done!
It stays well even outside the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days and inside the refrigerator for... well... weeks, I would say! Lovely dessert fix for an impromptu dinner, right? Rich and lovely! Perfect for an occassion and what occassion is better than Diwali, the Indian festival of lights to make this delectable Almond Halwa?
And if you do indulge... do remember about the dentist I was talking about earlier:-)
Lots of love and happiness!
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