A delicious creamy Indian beverage and dessert prepared with Almonds, Milk and Saffron. A touch of Cardamom gives it the earthy enticing aroma. Served as a magnificent beverage during festive occasions.
#5-ingredients
"Badam" means Almonds and "Kheer" refers to the pudding consistency of the dish. It's a versatile beverage that is served on its own as an indulgent welcome drink in place of coffee/tea or as an accompaniment to a full fledged South Indian meal. It is also served along with sweets like Gulab Jamun, Jalebi or Pheni, where the sweets are placed on a bed of Badam Kheer for a sumptuous dessert.
Some tend to add yellow food coloring to elevate the appearance. But, this recipe doesn't call for it as you can achieve a beautiful yellow hue by just adding a generous pinch of Saffron in the preparation.
Here is a recommendation for a premium quality saffron that I have used in this recipe.
Whole milk is preferred in this preparation as it cuts down the cooking time significantly. The traditional recipe calls for using blanched and peeled almonds. If you have Almond flour on hand, then simply replace the almonds with 6 tbsp of Almond flour in the recipe below and skip steps 1 and 2.
RECIPE
Serves 4 people Total time 45 min
Ingredients
● 5 cups Milk
● 1/2 tsp Saffron strands
● 1 1/2 cup Almonds
● 1 cup Sugar
● 2 tsp Cardamom powder
Preparation
1. Soak almonds in hot water for 30 minutes. Discard water and peel the skin. An easier way to peel is to press the ends of the soaked almonds.
2. Grind the soaked almonds into a smooth paste.
3. Bring the milk to a boil and stir continuously so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Start this process when the almonds are soaking to save on time. Stir until the milk is reduced to 3/4th of the quantity.
4. Now back to Almond paste. Add it to a pan with a little water and allow it to boil so that the badam paste gets cooked.
5. Stir in the cooked almond paste to the milk and boil for a few minutes till the flavors are incorporated.
6. Add in the sugar, saffron and cardamom powder and boil for 5 minutes. Adjust sugar based on your taste. I prefer to go easy on the sugar normally to bring out the falvor of the almonds and saffron.
7. Garnish with slivered almonds and saffron.
Tips
Served hot or cold. It can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for a cool summer drink, or warmed up for a winter beverage.
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