Ba-damn Halwa

Badam Halwa 

This was meant to be a burfi

But Alas! it refused to gel and set

You know it wouldn’t stop me

Nor concede defeat, you bet!

Too much milk my plot doth foil

I should have used half, or powder

Or the sugar syrup needed more boil

Now what do I do with this chowder!

Heat it, reduce it, try adding icing mix

Don’t give up, you’re your worst detractor

Chill it, congeal it, use a mould to get a fix

Do whatever, this dish you must doctor!

Ba-damned if I do and Ba-damned if I don’t

A lovely halwa, how long can I go on fledging ?

Posting without a story, you know is not my wont

So, a poem I craft when creativity needs dredging!

Badam Halwa

I had made this badam halwa this Diwali, but hadn't had the time nor the inspiration to post until I forcibly dredged up a few lines!

Ingredients

1 cup almond meal (you can grind blanched almonds)

1 cup cashew meal

1 cup plain flour

A pinch of salt

½ cup milk (I used 1 cup of milk, but in hindsight, feel I should have taken only half a cup of milk – or used khoya)

½ cup olive oil

2 tbsp ghee

2 drops yellow food colour and 2 drops pillar-box red food colour

 A pinch of saffron

½ tsp ground green cardamom

For the sugar syrup          

2 ¾ cups sugar

Water

Method

In a thick-bottomed kadhai, heat the ghee and roast the plain flour until it turns light pink. Then add the almond and cashew meal and half a cup of milk and cook while stirring constantly till it loses its rawness.

In another pan, add the sugar and just enough water to immerse the sugar. Heat this and make a sugar syrup of soft ball consistency.

Add the syrup to the nut and flour mixture and mix thoroughly, stirring continuously for about 5 -7 minutes. Then add the remaining olive oil little by little to prevent the halwa from sticking to the kadaai.

Add lemon yellow and pillar-box red food colours to achieve an orange colour. Add the cardamom and saffron strands to the halwa and mix well.

The halwa will now become glossy and translucent and will leave the sides of the kadhai.

Transfer into a greased tray and let it cool completely before cutting into shapes.

I filled silicon moulds with the mixture and let it set for a while and then unmoulded the shapes.