Almond Cake "Almond Halwa/Badam Halwa"

"Ten Little Monkeys jumping on the bed
      One fell down and broke his head
  Mama called the doctor and the doctor said-
     'No more monkeys jumping on the bed'
Nine Little Monkeys jumping on the bed
....
Eight Little Monkeys jumping on the bed
....                                                              "
This is one of my son's favorite Nursery Rhyme...It is a very popular Rhyme and am not sure if he or I love it more..

Wondering why I am quoting that poem? That is what happened to my poor little son yesterday night. He jumped on the bed and bumped his head on the bed frame. And now he has a big "goose egg" on the back of his head. He howled and I bawled..We all had a rough night.Now I am at home with my little boy closely monitoring his behavior and double-checking with his Pediatrist periodically. I made Chocolate Chip Pancakes for him. Poor thing deserves a little pampering. And now he is watching his current favorite Tom&Jerry movie -- Fast and the Furry...  .... ...I have to say I hate being helpless.

BM#12: Day2: Halwa -- Meet the sweet treat of my childhood days.Oh, how I adore these goopy, jiggly, slippery sweet things. Halwa is an elevated salutation to Ghee and Sugar. A good halwa just melts into one's mouth and slips into the pit of the belly giving you a shiver of excitement while it is making that journey from mouth to throat. He He..This Halwa was made ages ago by my Mother-In-Law and me ofcourse. I was assisting her cause making this is quite a strenuous process. One needs to have strong arms as it took nearly 45 minutes of non-stop stirring if I remember it right. The result was so totally worth it!

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 Cups Blanched Almonds
• 1/2 Cup Milk Powder or Maida Flour (to thicken the Halwa and give it body)
• 1-3/4 Cups Store-bought or Homemade Ghee
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 2 Cups Milk, at room temperature
• 3 Cups Granulated Sugar + 1/2 Cup Water 
• Yellow Food Color, optional

Procedure:

• Blanch the almonds and wipe it clean with paper towel.

• Add the almonds and milk to a blender jar and grind it.

• The mixture has to be smooth and of velvety consistency.

• In a Kadai, add the Olive Oil and the Maida Flour/Milk Powder. Fry it.

• The flour should be browned like in the picture. Scoop and save it on a plate.

• Add the sugar and water to the kadai and warm it on a low flame.

• Sugar starts melting. Keep stirring.It will completely liquefy.

• Once the sugar is completely liquified, add the almond paste and the flour/milk powder paste.

• Keep the flame at medium or medium-low. Never increase the heat. And the continuous stirring begins from now. Even if left idle for a few seconds, the mixture will develop a crust. That should never happen.

• In another Kadai, warm Ghee in batches. Once it reaches to a smoking point pour it over the almond mixture.

• Always make sure that the ghee is near the smoking point cause when you pour into the almond mixture it should sizzle, like in the picture below. Add the ghee in 2 batches.

• Add food coloring at about 30 minutes into stirring.

• The mixture should thicken but never develop a crust. 

• Once it starts leaving the side of the pan, at around 40 minutes, switch off the stove. Remove the Kadai from the stovetop.

• Smear ghee onto a wide plate. Immediately pour the almond mixture  into the plate and level it with a silicone spatula.Let it cool for 15-20 minutes.The plate that I used had 12" diameter.

• Using a pizza wheel cut into square or diamonds.

• This time I decided to make diamond cuts cause its what we prefer.

• Roughly yields about 50 pieces.

Ghee, Nut and Maida Flour Halwa - 

 Linking to
-  Kid's Delight hosted by Edible Entertainment
Enjoy!