Badam Halwa Using Almond flour | Easy Badam Halwa

Badam Halwa, a rich and delicious sweet made with almond, milk, ghee and sugar. Even today, it's consider as one of the  luxurious sweets because of its richness and heavenly taste.   

Traditionally, Badam Halwa is made from the whole almonds and the whole process is taking a very long time because it involves soaking the almonds, peeling them and then ground them into fine paste. Now, thanks to the readily available almond flour so that you can skip all those steps and make the badam halwa under 30 mins. 

Almond Flour 

In the market, if you're looking for 'grounded almond', you can find almond flour and almond meal. This recipe requires almond flour not the almond meal. Almond flour is basically made from the blanched almonds .So make sure to get the almond flour which has more fine texture compared to almond meal.

Also, in some places, almond meal is made with whole skinned almonds, so the color of the almond meal would be little darker compared to almond flour.

Flavoring Agents

Here in this recipe, i have used both saffron and cardamom for the flavors. I never thought of making Badam Halwa without saffron. But one of my friends told me that she liked it without any flavoring because that's how badam halwa is made by her family for years. 

So it's more of a personal choice or how you like it than what recipe calls for, right?. Hence you can use any one of this flavoring agents or you can skip the both . Still it would be delicious.

 

Milk

Whole or full fat milk is the best for this halwa. For this badam halwa recipe, I have used 1.5 cups of liquid out of which 1 cup is milk. You can make this recipe with 1/2 cup of milk too. But the richness and the creaminess wouldn't be the same. 

Adding more milk would increase the cooking time but however it gives the rich flavor so i highly recommend to use the given quantity of milk for better tasting halwa.

Now let's see how to make this delicious and rich badam halwa!

Badam Halwa Using Almond flour

Preparation Time : 0 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 4 
Recipe Category: Sweets | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Badam Halwa with Almond flour, Almond flour halwa Badam Halwa, a rich and delicious sweet made with almond, milk, ghee and sugar.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Almond flour/ meal - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Water - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Saffron - a few strands 

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Ghee - 1/4 cup

Procedure

First soak the saffron in 2 tbsp of warm milk for 30 mins. Heat a non-stick pan, add the 2 tbsp of ghee, let it melt completely and then add the almond flour.

Keep the heat in medium and roast the almond flour in the ghee for 3-4 mins. Make sure that the almond flour doesn't change color. Next keep the heat  low and add the water.

Cook till all the water is absorbed by the almond flour. Next add the remaining milk after using i2 tbsp for soaking saffron and mix it continuously so that it doesn't form any lump and smooth. Now increase the heat to medium.

Cook the mixture till the milk quantity is reduced to 1/2(Make sure that the heat is medium and stir it frequently otherwise the bottom would be burnt). Now add the sugar. When the sugar melts, the mixture again loosen a bit. 

Cook the mixture till it become thick. It would take approximately 18-20 mins after adding the milk to the mixture with medium heat. When the mixture starts to thicken, it splatter a bit, so be careful.   At this stage add the saffron milk. Mix it well and the mixture turns pale yellow.

Finally add the remaining ghee and cardamom powder. Cook it for another 3-4 mins and switch off the flame.

Delicious Badam Halwa is ready.

Related : How to make Bombay Karachi Halwa

You can serve this halwa in a bowl or you can pack a spoonful of halwa in a butter paper and serve it like in marriage function. Store the remaining in the refrigerator.

Related: How to make Almond Flour Cookies

Notes:

• This Halwa tends to thicken when it's cool down completely. So remove from the heat when it's a bit runny.
• Added a few pistachios for garnishing on the top. But this halwa doesn't need any nuts.

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Mohanthal, a traditional Gujarathi sweet made from the besan / chickpeas flour. It's one of my favorite sweets made with besan. The flavor and the taste of Mohanthal is simply amazing. Trust me, it's so addictive and you can't stop it with just one piece of  Mohanthal. 

As a South Indian, i was never aware of this for a very long time, a couple of years ago only i came to know about this sweet. By looking at the ingredients and the process of making this sweet itself, i knew that would be delicious. 

As of now, i have made this sweet a lot of times on various occasions and it's always a big hit.  Since this was a new sweet to me initially, i have browsed through a lot of recipes and tried different ratios of ingredients every time when i make and eventually found the recipe that i like the most.

As of now, i have made this sweet a lot of times on various occasions and it's always a big hit.  Since this was a new sweet to me initially, i have browsed through a lot of recipes and tried different ratios of ingredients every time when i make and eventually found the recipe that i like the most.

Many recipes call for khoya/mawa for making mohanthal but in today's recipe that i'm sharing, i haven't used khoya but still the mohanthal has melt in your mouth texture. 

Roasting the besan/kadalai maavu

Roasting the besan properly is the key to make delicious mohanthal. Since my kitchen has yellow light, i have taken the picture of the besan in daylight for three main stages that you can see  in the pic below.

Make sure to keep the flame in low-medium and roast the besan well. It shouldn't be burned at any stage and at the same time it should be dark brown after roasting in the ghee. Then once you add the milk to the besan-ghee mixture, it instantly turns reddish brown in color (last pic in the collage below) and that's the time to remove from the heat. 

Sugar Syrup Consistency 

Once the besan is roasted well, half the work is already done. Next is the sugar syrup. Make sure to boil the sugar syrup till it reaches one string consistency. That's the key to setting the mohanthal. 

If the sugar syrup passes the one string consistency, then the mohanthal would be hard. Or if the sugar syrup doesn't reach the one string consistency, then the mohanthal wouldn't set and be like halwa. 

Take the sugar syrup with the spoon and add a few drops in a small bowl. After a few secs, it should be bearable hot, at that time, take the sugar syrup between your thumb and index finger, pull the fingers gently, a single thread should form. That's the correct stage for sugar syrup.

Beginners Tips 

• Don't leave the besan unattended while roasting. It easily gets burned at the bottom.
• If it's not set after a few hours, then place it on the refrigerator and it will set immediately.

Happy Deepavali to all ! Have a fun-filled day with your loved ones. Will see you all again in another post soon. 

Mohanthal | Gujarathi Mohanthal Recipe

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 30 mins | Serves : 6 
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Mohanthal, Mohanthal without Khoya , Mohanthal without mawa , Mohanthal sweet,Gujarathi Mohanthal Mohanthal, a traditional Gujarathi sweet made from the besan / chickpeas flour. It's one of my favorite sweets made with besan.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Kadalai Maavu / Besan - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp

Milk - 1/4 cup + 1.5 tbsp

Water - 1/4 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Almonds(silvered) - a few (optional)

Procedure

First take the besan in a bowl, add 1 tbsp of ghee and 1.5 tbsp of milk into it. 

Mix it well with your hands and then sieve the mixture through the siever.

The besan looks like a fine beach sand, that's the perfect texture for mohanthal. Next heat a thick bottomed kadai, add the remaining 1/2 cup ghee.

When the ghee starts to warm up, add the besan mixture and mix it well. 

Roast the besan in the ghee till it turns into dark brown.It takes around 15-18 mins in the low medium flame. Stir the mixture continuously to avoid burning at the bottom. Initially the mixture would be thick, roasting continuously would make the mixture lighter and a little bit thinner.

Once the mixture is dark brown, add the remaining 1/4 cup of cup and mix it well. The mixture instantly turns into reddish brown. 

Colors of besan at each stages. Since my kitchen has yellow light, I have captured the  three stages of besan color alone in day light for easy understanding 

Once the mixture turns reddish brown, remove the besan mixture from the heat and keep it aside. Next let's make sugar syrup, add the sugar and water in a sauce pan and bring into boil.

 Keep the flame in medium and boil the syrup till it reaches one string consistency. Next add the sugar syrup and cardamom powder into the besan mixture and mix it well.

 Once it all comes together as a homogenous mixture. Put it in the flame and cook it for around 3-4 mins or until it leaves the sides of the pan.

Then transfer the mixture into the ghee applied pan(i used parchment paper also for safety) . Garnish the top with the almonds and let it cool completely. Once it completely cools down, cut into desired shape.

Delicious Mohanthal is ready to serve.

Related:How to make Milk Cake 

Notes

• You can garnish with any types of nuts or edible silver paper or leave it as it is also.
• I have used full fat milk and highly recommend to use that for rich taste.

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Milk Cake using Condensed Milk| Milk Burfi

Milk Cake/ Milk Burfi, a delicious sweet made from the milk ! Traditionally, this milk cake is made from the pure cow milk and it takes hours to reduce the milk into desired consistency.

Here in today's recipe, i have taken the shortcut and used the condensed milk to speed up the process without compromising in taste and texture. 

For this diwali, if you're looking for exotic milk sweet to make with less time, then i would highly recommend to try this milk cake with condensed milk.

Tips to make perfect milk cake

• Make sure to keep the flame in medium once the milk mixture starts to boil. 
• Stir it continuously to avoid burning at the bottom. Even the slightest burning at the bottom spoils the whole mixture.
• Add the curd on the needed basis because depends on the sourness of the curd you may need more or less. If the milk is started to curdle then stop adding the curd.
• Cook the mixture till it leaves the sides of the pan and immediately pour into the greased pan. Cooking after this stage makes chewy milk cake
• Make sure to cover the pan with thick cloth and leave it aside for at least 3 hrs. It helps to set the cake and able to cut it when it's cooled.

Hope i have shared all the tips to make the perfect and delicious milk cake ! If you have any questions, do leave a comment, i try my best to answer your queries ! 

Now let's check out on how to make this delicious milk cake !

Related:How to make Khoya Burfi / Mawa Burfi

Happy Tamil new year to all those who celebrate!

Milk Cake using Condensed milk

Preparation Time : 5 min | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 4 
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Milk Cake using condensed milk, milk cake,milk burfi,indian sweet,burfi recipe Milk Cake/ Milk Burfi, a quick and easy way to make delicious milk cake using condensed milk.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Milk - 1 cup 

Condensed Milk - 1 small tin(14 oz)

Curd - 2 to 3 tbsp

Ghee - 3 tbsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Procedure

In a non-stick pan, add both milk and condensed milk. 

Switch on the flame and keep stirring continuously until both mix together well. Bring the milk mixture into boil in medium flame.

Once it starts to boil, add curd little by little and mix it well.

When the milk mixture starts to curdle and look grainy, stop adding the curd. Now start adding the ghee little by little. Mix it well.

When all the ghee is absorbed add more ghee. Do this till all the ghee is used. 

Cook till the mixture is thick and leaves the sides of the pan(Some of the readers who have tried the recipe told me that it's too sweet for their taste. Yes, it's so sweet because of the condensed milk. Give a taste test(be aware it's extremely hot) when the mixture is thick. If it's too sweet for you , add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of unsweetened khoya at this stage and cook it for a few more mins ). Finally add the cardamom powder, mix it well and switch off the flame.

Grease any bowl with enough depth or loaf/baking pan with little ghee. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth the top surface.

Cover the top with foil paper and then wrap the tin with thick towel. Let it undisturbed for 2- 3 hrs or until it's cooled completely. 

After it cooled down, unwrap and remove the foil paper from the baking pan and invert on to a plate. Gently tap on the pan, the milk cake would fall off from the pan easily.  Then cut into desired shape and serve.

Tasty Milk Cake is ready ! 

Related : How to make 5 mins palkova in microwave using condensed milk

Notes: 

• Store the leftovers in refrigerator since it's milk based
• You can skip the cardamom and leave it with milk flavor too.
  

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Coconut Milk Murukku | Thengai Pal Murukku

Coconut Milk Murukku, a delicious, crunchy and flavorful snack made from the rice flour as main ingredient and flavored with coconut milk. It's one of our favorite snacks to munch on any time. 

Back in days when we were in hosur, we used to buy this coconut milk murukku from the local bakery whenever we pass by that store. The flavor and the taste of the murukku is simply amazing. Later i had tried a few proportions to recreate that murukku taste and finally the recipe that i'm sharing today is my keeper for making this delicious murukku!

Before check out the recipe, let's see some of the FAQs 

Can i use store brought coconut milk for this recipe ?

Yes, of course ! But here, i have used homemade coconut milk only. Make sure to use the brand that doesn't have any artificial flavor for best taste and aroma. 

Why did my murukku break into oil ?

If the dough doesn't have enough moisture in it, the murukku breaks easily in the oil and also it breaks while squeezing the dough. So add a little more coconut milk in the dough, mix it well and use.

Why is my murukku not crispy ?

If the oil is too hot, then the outer turns darker easily and it won't be crispy. Cook it in the medium flame for the whole process helps to get crispy murukku.

Why is my murukku hard?

It doesn't have enough fat in it. Butter used in the murukku helps to keep the murukku crispy and as light.

Does the murukku burst in the oil?

Chances are there!!

1.  If the dry ingredients like rice flour and any other flour used in the recipe has any big granules. So make sure to sieve all the flour once before making dough
2. Once all the dough is squeezed, don't tempt to roll the left over dough into seedai and fry. It has the chance to burst.

Coconut Milk Murukku

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 25 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Coconut Milk Murukku, Murukku, Thengai Pal Murukku Coconut Milk Murukku, a delicious, crunchy and flavorful snack made from the rice flour as main ingredient and flavored with coconut milk.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Rice flour - 2 cups
Roasted chana dal/Pottukadalai/Dalia  flour- 1/3 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp
Cumin seed - 1 tsp

Coconut Milk - 1 cup(approx)
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Oil - for frying

Procedure

Take rice flour, pottukadalai flour, cumin seed and salt in a large bowl, mix it all well together, then add the butter.

Incorporate butter with the flour until it all mixed well. Next add the coconut milk little by little and make a soft dough.

Take the murukku press and add the three hole disc in it. Then fill 3/4 of the murukku press with the dough. 

Close the murukku press with the lid. Take a few slotted laddle or small plates and squeeze the dough in circles and keep it ready. Heat the oil for deep frying. Add a piece of dough in the oil, if it rise up immediately, then the oil is ready to fry murukku.

Add a few pressed murukku dough and cook it on medium flame.

When the "shh" sound stops and the murukku floats on the top, remove it from the oil and place it on tissue paper. Let them cool completely and store it in air tight container.

Tasty, crunchy and flavorful coconut milk murukku/Thengai pal murukku is ready.

Related:How to make Omapodi/Plain sev

Notes:

• Make sure to store the murukku when it's completely cooled down.
• Tastes and flavor intensify after a  few days.
• Instead of cumin seed, you can also use the sesame seeds for flavoring.
• 

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