Badam barfi or almond barfi is one of those rare quick and easy but delightful Indian sweets that you just won't be able to pass. A holiday special, this fudge-like sweet is made with milk powder, almonds, ghee, sugar and cardamom. Five ingredients and three minutes in the microwave are all you need to get this barfi on the table!
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What is Badam Barfi?
Badam barfi or almond barfi is a rich and dense confection made with milk (in my recipe, milk powder).
Special holidays, weddings and festivals like Diwali in India are unthinkable without mithai (sweets), and barfi or burfi features prominently. As a child, I loved unwrapping a gaily wrapped box of mithai and reaching for the barfi inside.
Confession: As an adult, I still love unwrapping the mithai box and reaching for the barfi inside. That part hasn't changed.
What has changed though is that instead of waiting for a box of barfi to arrive from somewhere, I can now make it in my own kitchen!
But before I go into how to make burfi at home, allow me to share how barfi is made in those big mithai shops: milk, ghee and sugar are cooked in a large karahi (Indian wok) on a slow fire. Nuts like almonds, cashews or pistachios along with powdered cardamom are usually added. Once this mixture thickens and starts to solidify, it is cooled and cut into square or diamond shapes. Then the squares are decorated with a thin film of edible silver leaf called chandi ka varq.
This is a lengthy and time-consuming process, and not practical for home cooks. My homemade badam barfi recipe has seen two very significant modifications:
I use milk powder instead of milk.
I make the barfi itself in the microwave.
The barfi does taste nice, I can assure you.
Another barfi recipe that you might enjoy is this coconut barfi.
Ingredients
Note: exact amounts are mentioned in the recipe card further down.
This barfi is made with just 5 easily available ingredients + 1 optional ingredient!
1. Milk powder: A very important thing to note about the milk powder you use is that it needs to be full-fat, not skimmed or partly skimmed. For this reason alone, Nido (available in most Indian and Pakistani groceries) is a good choice, while Everyday is not. Barfi made with full-fat milk powder is rich and creamy and binds together very well, but if you try to make it with skimmed milk powder, it won't have the same taste and the barfi will also fall apart.
2. Sugar: White granulated sugar works best in this recipe.
3. Raw almonds: There's no need to soak or peel the almonds. Just grab them in all their raw glory and grind them along with the cardamom.
4. Cardamom: Seeds from green cardamom pods (safed elaichi) are needed here.
5. Ghee: Please use pure ghee for making this recipe.. no oils can substitute the aroma and color of pure ghee.
6. Silver leaf: This is the sixth ingredient, but it is totally optional. Edible silver leaf (chandi ka varq) is used as a finishing touch to give a festive look to the barfi; otherwise, it doesn't add or take away anything from the taste.
Instructions
Step 1: Grind the almonds and cardamom to a rough powder in the spice grinder.
Step 2: Mix the milk powder, almond + cardamom powder, sugar, and ghee with a little water until it forms a thick paste-like mixture.
Step 3: Microwave the mixture on high for 3 minutes.
Step 4: Scrape it down and spread on a tray and once it is slightly cool, cut it into your desired shape.
Step 5: Garnish with slivered almonds and silver leaf or varq.
The whole recipe takes all of 8 minutes to make from start to finish. I mean, just look at it. This rich-looking, beautiful dessert is made in 8 minutes flat! Crazy, isn't it?
Top Tips
Top Tips1. Don't over-grind the almonds and cardamom, or the mixture will become sticky because of the oil that's released from the almonds. Still won't make much difference to the final outcome but mixing it in with the milk powder will become a tad difficult.
2. Microwave the mixture in a deep dish. If the dish is deep, the mixture won't boil and spill over. Big mess avoided.
Why This Recipe Works
Once I made badam burfi successfully the first time, it opened all kinds of possibilities:
- No time left to make dessert while expecting company? Make badam burfi.
- Have a craving for something sweet, but don't feel like spending hours in the kitchen? Make badam burfi.
- Want to bring along a little something for a friend? You got it.
I have done all of the above and I'm sure you can think of many more scenarios where you can make this delicious sweet. Have fun making it!
More traditional Indian desserts
- Besan halwa: A gluten-free Indian dessert made of chickpea flour, ghee, jaggery, milk, milk solids and nuts. It is soft, aromatic and tastes so good!
- Sheera: Made with semolina, this is a soft halwa that you can have with puris.
- Rasgulla: Soft, spongy, and light-as-air balls dipped in a sweet sugar syrup. Made with chena, a special milk cheese, here's one Indian dessert you'll not want to miss!
- Moong dal halwa - Cooked and mashed mung lentils are roasted in ghee, cardamom, saffron and sugar to make an irresistibly sweet halwa.
Tried this recipe? Do consider giving it a star rating and a comment below. And if you’re on Instagram, feel free to tag me so I can see your creation. I'd love to hear from you! Thank you:)
📖 Recipe
Badam Barfi
Equipment
- Spice grinder
- microwave
- large Pyrex bowl
Ingredients
- 15 almonds raw
- ½ teaspoon green cardamom seeds
- 1 cup milk powder Nido
- 2 tablespoon ghee
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 edible silver leaf optional
- 5 almonds slivered, for garnish
Instructions
Preparation
- Put the 15 almonds and the cardamom seeds in a clean spice grinder and grind to a rough powder.
- In a deep Pyrex bowl, put the milk powder, the above almond + cardamom powder, ghee and sugar. Add ⅓ cup water and whisk to make a thick paste.
- Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
- Spread the mixture evenly on a tray. Once it cools down, cut into squares or diamonds.
- Garnish with the slivered almonds and silver leaf, if using. Serve warm.
Notes
- Deseeded green cardamom is available in any Indian store, but I often don't go to the trouble of buying it. It's not at all difficult to peel some whole green cardamom and take out the seeds.
- Grind the almond and cardamom seeds to a powder, but don't over-grind because the almonds will start congealing. Even if they are a little coarsely ground, it doesn't matter. The almond bits will actually taste good in the burfi!
- Use a deep, microwave safe dish and keep an eye on the mixture while it is cooking in the microwave, so it doesn't boil over. It will rise and coat the sides of the dish, but if the dish is deep enough it won't spill, especially as it thickens.
- I always use Nido milk powder to make burfi. It is available in most Indian and Pakistani groceries.
- Do not make this recipe with skimmed milk powders like Everyday. You won't get the same results.
Saima says
Thanks Claudia! Glad you like the blog!
Saima says
Yes, there's something about 5 ingredient recipes that attracts all of us, isn't it?!
Saima says
Thanks Monica! Childhood memories of food do stick somehow!
J. R. says
These look amazing. I am currently in Egypt and would have a lot of trouble getting all the ingredients, but once I go back to the US I'd love to try making this!
Saima says
Good luck, J.R. Do let me know how it went if you try it!
Vj says
Recipe looks perfrct for the time and ingredient constraint to eat yummy sweet:D would you recommend equal measure of almond flour to milk powder instead of having to grind almonds?
Saima says
Thanks Vj! I haven't really made badam barfi with almond flour but I think there might be a difference in flavour, texture and color as almond flour is much finer and made with blanched, skinless almonds.
Shamla Moodley says
Can you make it on a stove?
Saima says
Yes, Shamla. Stir the mixture for the barfi on low heat in a karahi until it starts leaving the sides of the karahi and clumps together. Same process as the microwave, except you are doing it on the stovetop by hand.