Badam Katli / Almond Fudge Recipe

Badam Katli is a traditional Indian sweet prepared on special occasions and festivals like Dussehra and Diwali . It is basically a rich almond fudge which can be easily made at home with just 5 ingredients. The recipe is simple as it does not call to look for correct sugar syrup consistency. Powdered sugar is used to sweeten the fudge and it cooks pretty fast. The badam katli is flavored with saffron, has a soft texture and long shelf life. The fudge stays good at room temperature for about a week and up to a month on refrigeration . Serve this delicious badam katli as a dessert or pop in one or two just to satisfy those sweet cravings . Best part is that it serves as a fasting food for Navratri, Ekadashi fast too !

Badam Katli is a delicious sweet which is not hard like the burfi (fudge), but is delicate and has a soft texture. The recipe calls for soaking the almonds in hot water, peeling them and soaking again for the second time. Double soaking the almonds helps in grinding the almonds finely and contributes  towards the smooth texture of the katli. Saffron flavored milk is added to the soaked almonds while grinding it into a paste. This paste is further cooked with powdered sugar to get a solid mass which can be kneaded and rolled out and lastly shaped . The quantity of ingredients mentioned in this recipe yield about 3 dozen badam katli. The recipe can be doubled easily.

Badam Katli Video

If you are following my blog for a while now, you must have noticed , i had joined a Facebook group named Recipe Swap Challenge few months back . Here fellow bloggers participating in the event are paired and they have to visit the blog of their partner and bookmark the recipes, they wish to try out. Any one dish is recreated and posted on their blogs with due credit given to the author. This is my third month on this wonderful group who is an initiative by my friends and talented fellow bloggers, Vidya Narayan and Jolly Makkar. For this month my partner is Sandhya Ramakrishnan who blogs at Mycookingjourney. Sandhya is a passionate cook and loves photography. Do visit her blog for tried and tasted recipes from around the world. I have bookmarked few of her recipes and tried my hands first on this delicious Badam Katli. Click here for the link to her recipe. The recipe turned out very well and my husband and son thought i had served them store bought fudge. I have just increased the amount of powdered sugar a bit and the texture, color and taste of the fudge was just perfect. 

                                                

Preparation time: 3 hours, including the soaking time
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves : 3 dozen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• Few strands of Saffron 
• 1 tablespoon ghee

Method:

1. Boil around 3-4 cups of water . Add the almonds to it and put off the flame. Allow the almonds to soak for around 30 minutes. After 30 minutes peel the almonds . The almond skin would come out easily.

2. Take fresh water and boil it and soak the peeled almonds in hot water for the second time, now for a longer time, around 2 hours. Double soaking the almonds helps in grinding the almonds finely and contributes  towards the smooth texture of the katli. So do not skip this step or else your katli will be granular. Meanwhile warm the half cup milk and add saffron strands to it. Keep it aside.

3. After second soaking, drain the water and transfer the almonds to a grinder jar. Add saffron milk to it in batches and grind to a smooth paste. You may add a couple of tablespoons of milk or water if required to make a very fine paste.

4. Heat one tablespoon ghee in a heavy bottom non stick pan and add the almond paste and powdered sugar to it. Stir well and cook the mixture on low- medium heat until it leaves the sides of the pan. Keep stirring the mix to ensure it does not catch the bottom. Cook the mixture until it becomes stiff . This step may take around 15 -17 minutes. Do not worry about the fudge getting crumbly, as we are going to knead the dough and roll it out. If the mix is not cooked well, it will remain sticky and you wont be able to roll it out.

5. Put off the flame once the mix has become a solid mass. Remove the mix and allow to cool down in a plate until it is warm enough to be handled. Grease your hands and begin to knead the mixture well. This step ensures the katli is smooth , without any chunks.

6. Line the work surface with a piece of parchment paper. Grease it with ghee and place the kneaded dough over it and roll with a greased rolling pin. Roll until it is about 3/4 cm thick. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, now using a pizza cutter or sharp knife cut the katli into desired shape. To get the typical diamond shape, first cut into vertical lines and then diagonally.

7. Carefully remove the katlis and serve. Keep rest of the katli in an airtight container. The quantity of ingredients mentioned in this recipe yield about 3 dozen badam katli. The recipe can be doubled easily. Badam katli has a long shelf life. The fudge stays good at room temperature for about a week and up to a month on refrigeration .

Recipe Notes:

• The quantity of ingredients mentioned in this recipe yield about 3 dozen badam katli. The recipe can be doubled easily.
• Badam katli has a long shelf life. The fudge stays good at room temperature for about a week and up to a month on refrigeration .
• Double soaking the almonds helps in grinding the almonds finely and contributes  towards the smooth texture of the katli. So do not skip this step or else your katli will be granular.
• You may reduce the sugar quantity to about 1/4 of cup if you like a mildly sweet fudge.
• For the katli to set well, it has to become a solid mass while on flame. 
• If in case you over cook the mixture (though this will happen rarely) and it becomes too crumbly and hard. Do not worry, heat the mixture until warm and sprinkle few drops of milk to it and mix well. You may add up to 2 teaspoon of milk . Mix well and knead into a dough. The fudge so made will have a different texture though.
• If you under cook and the mixture is sticky after cooling down and you are not able to roll it, transfer it back to the pan and cook again until it becomes stiff.

I hope you would love to try out this healthy and delicious treat for your loved ones . Would love to know your thoughts , so feel free to drop any queries, suggestions and feedback in the comment section below.

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For more fudge recipes from my blog, do check out the following links.

• Nariyal Burfi / Fresh coconut Fudge

•     Mohanthal

• Instant Kalakand

• Dried Figs and Nuts Roll

• Peanut Sesame seed Fudge

• Protein Chikki