Indians have an almost holy relationship with almonds and many consider them to be brain food. Mum would always ramp up her almond campaign in the run up to our school exams and feed us these in the hope we’d get better grades.
Traditionally, this sweet treat is traditionally eaten on special occasions like Diwali which is this coming Tuesday 13th November. Diwali is the the festival of light – it’s origins rooted in Hindu religion. A demon King exiled some really very nice and holy people; Ram and Sita – and the lighting of diva’s (lights) marks their triumph over the King and return to rule over their Kingdom.
These days Diwali, like Christmas, involves spending time with family amid some partying, hip-shaking and eating – especially sweets. This recipe is a classic, handed to me by my grandma and super easy to make.
Enjoy and Happy Diwali everyone.
Almond Fudge (Badam Katli)
Ingredients:
- 250g ground almonds
- 150g caster sugar
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 250ml water
- 1 tbs of milk to soften the dough, if needed.
Heat the water and sugar in deep flat bottomed pan and stir frequently. Keep stirring until the sugar starts to change texture. It should become thicker and syrupy after around 10 minutes.
The sugar needs to reach the right consistency before you add the other ingredients. You can check the consistency by placing a drop onto the back of a spoon and when cool, prod with your finger and lift up. If there’s one strand of sugar, it’s not ready – you need two strands. (Which should be around 15 minutes or more)
Once the sugar is ready, add the almonds and cardamom into the pan and stir on a medium to low heat, keep stirring. The aim is to get to a dough-like consistency, which again will take around 15 minutes. How do you know if you’re there? The spoon should stand up in the mixture. If the mixture is too stiff, add a tablespoon of milk to soften it.
Now line a flat surface with greaseproof parchment and transfer the dough onto it. Roll our slowly so that it’s the thickness of a pound coin. Leave to cool and then cut.