When of asked me to do a guest post(which was some time back and I got sucked into the holiday season back then), I knew I had to make an Indian dessert/Mithai.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 10
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup raw almonds soaked overnight
  • 1/2 cup Semolina flour (or fine Semolina fine Sooji, fine cream of wheat)
  • a pinch of sea salt or regular salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Oil (I usually use 1 Tablespoon refined Coconut oil and 1 Tablespoon Earth balance butter or organic canola oil)

Sugar Syrup

  • 1/2 cup ground raw sugar (or coconut sugar or other sugar of choice. Use 2 Tablespoons more for sweeter)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • a pinch of cardamom powder
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon Saffron strands (to taste)
  • a pinch of salt

Method

  1. Soak the almonds overnight. Peel and pulse into coarse crumbs. Add a pinch of sea salt and keep ready. * You can also use almond meal. Soak for a few hours, drain and use.
  2. * To peel almonds easily. Drain and soak them in boiling water for 2 minutes. The Skin will loosen up. Press the almonds and they will pop out.
  3. In a pan, mix all the ingredients under sugar syrup and bring to a boil on low-medium heat. Continue boiling till 1 string (single thread)consistency is achieved (temp around 230 degrees F / 110ºc).
  4. Meanwhile, in another pan, dry roast the semolina on low-medium heat for 6-8 minutes or until it starts changing color and is fragrant. * If your semolina grain is large, then pulse it a few times in a blender/processor before roasting.
  5. Add ground almonds, oil and mix well to form crumbs. (Mix continuously by pressing and breaking crumbs to evenly distribute the oil. half a minute)
  6. Add the boiling sugar syrup and mix well.
  7. Take off heat after a few seconds and pour on greased/oiled or parchment lined pan.
  8. Even it out, use knife to cut into square or diamond shape, and let cool for 15 minutes before slicing into pieces.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.