Badam Milk

September 15, 2014
Drinks,Recipes

I recently stumbled upon this delightful Indian drink that had me more than a little intrigued. I’m not usually a big milk drinker, but when I saw it contained cardamom, saffron, and rosewater, I knew I had to give it a try. Sure enough, I was hooked. Sweet, creamy and absolutely exploding with aromatics, it’s the perfect end-of-summer treat!

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

My recipe is only slightly adapted from this wonderful post by Cook With Manali. She has several other delicious looking recipes on her site that I can’t wait to try, for example this Afghan yogurt drink.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

How can you resist these ingredients? I mean . . .

Badam Milk Ingredients by HonestlyYUM

Start by soaking the almonds in water for at least two hours so that you can easily remove their skin.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

You can also do this quickly by blanching the almonds in boiling water for one minute (drain, then run under cold water) or by purchasing them pre-blanched, but what’s the fun in that?

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

Blend the almonds with 1/4 cup of whole milk until the mixture reaches a grainy paste-like consistency.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

Remove the mixture from the blender and set aside.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

Over low heat, use a metal ladle to toast the saffron. Once the saffron dries out and becomes aromatic, use a mortar and pestle to crush it into a powder. While you’re at it, crush the cardamom seeds into a powder as well.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

Next, add the remaining milk and the almond paste to a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stir constantly so that the milk does not burn. This is extremely important!

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

As soon as the milk reaches a boil reduce the heat to low, add the sugar and the spices, and continue to cook for 20 minutes stirring constantly, allowing the milk to thicken.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

Lastly, remove from the heat, add the rosewater and let cool. You can also drink it warm, but I like it better chilled, so I popped it in the refrigerator.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

Once chilled, pour into a glass and top with your favorite garnishes.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

I used a few strands of saffron, edible rose petals, and crushed almonds.

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

So preeeetty!!

Badam Milk by HonestlyYUM

Badam Milk

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 25 almonds
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 5 cardamom pods
  • pinch of saffron
  • 1/4 teaspoon rosewater
  • saffron, edible rose petals and crushed almonds for garnish

Directions:

  • Soak the almonds in water for at least two hours then remove their skin (or start with pre-blanched almonds).
  • In a food processor or blender, blend the almonds with 1/4 cup of the milk until the mixture reaches a grainy paste-like consistency. Set aside.
  • Over low heat, use a metal ladle to toast the saffron. Once the saffron dries out and becomes aromatic, use a mortar and pestle to crush it into a powder. Set aside.
  • Use a mortar and pestle to crush the cardamom seeds into a powder. Set aside.
  • Add the remaining milk and the almond paste to a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stir constantly so that the milk does not burn.
  • As soon as the milk reaches a boil reduce the heat to low, add the sugar and the spices, and continue to cook for 20 minutes stirring constantly, allowing the milk to thicken.
  • Remove from heat, add the rosewater and let cool. Once cooled to room temperature, place in the refrigerator to chill.
  • Once chilled, pour into a glass and garnish with saffron strands, edible rose petals, and crushed almonds. Serve.

(images by HonestlyYUM; recipe adapted from Cook With Manali)

Conversation

The recipe is quite impressive and looking delicious. I prefer to use almonds from https://www.aagur.com/ cause they provide best in quality kashmiri almonds at reasonable prices.

Learn from others and teach other people: New people play a great role in your cooking experience. They give you different points of views, different perspectives, they can teach you new things and also, you can teach them things from your culture. Which makes you more tolerant, open-minded and critical about yourself

I know the health benefits of the milk and milk products and that’s why I have my own juicing business. Malt Drink is one of the few milk and milk products rich in milk proteins. It combines nourishing value of both malt and milk, making it a power drink. It’s a passion to express myself and to make humans healthy. Check this here http://www.chihollandia.com/

Badam Should Be Pure and Orginal.With Original Saffron From kashmir

I just wanted to pop back to tell you that I have made this recipe 7 (SEVEN!) times since you posted it less than a month ago. It’s absolutely stunning and my entire family requests it regularly now. I have served it ice cold, hot, and even lukewarm when we couldn’t wait for it to chill completely, and every time, it’s absolutely delicious. Next up, I’m going to splurge on the beautiful cups and edible rose leaves. This is a such hit and I’m so glad to have stumbled upon your outstanding blog. I can’t wait to cook my way through your archives!!

Hey Todd,
Just stumbled across your blog post. I absolutely love badam milk! I grew up drinking it and it’s one of my go to comfort foods. I absolutely love your photos. They’re beautiful.
thanks of sharing

We make this regularly at home, we usually have it hot and for a yum factor add vermicelli. Though there’s no rosewater in our family recipe.

I´m so fascinated with these 1001 nights like flavors – I had to check your recipe out although I usually am not such a fan of almond milk. But I never made some at home – seems it´s time to break that habit! Beautiful….

Thanks for stopping by, Sabine. I really appreciate your kind words!! Almond milk is usually made by soaking and blending together almonds and water – while this is actually combining blended almonds and actual milk + the sugar and spices. I hope you enjoy if you give it a try 🙂

Oh my gosh! This is totally my thing. Have a huge thing for saffron AND cardamom, especially if any type of milk is involved (ice cream especially!).

Beautiful Todd!

Thanks Laura!! omg, this would make the best ice cream base! I think you’re on to something . . .

This is a pretty intense recipe, but it looks really good. I love learning about exotic drinks and dishes. Thanks for posting!

Where did you buy the edible rose petals & rose water? I always wondered if there’s a good source for them.

Thanks!

Wow – this sounds delicious and so unique. Beautiful photos!

Such an interesting recipe with incredible flavor combinations! I love this idea and the photos are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!

I’m so glad you liked this recipe and tried it out! Your pictures are incredible!

Manali, thank you for your amazing recipe – I’m seriously addicted. + I LOVE your site!!

Not that I’m saying I’m this type of person, but if all you had on hand was almonds with skins, and you’re just too lazy to blanch and peel….could you make the paste with the skins?

I do love a good Indian bevy. This sounds/looks amazing.

You’re speaking my language, Elana 😉

I haven’t tried it with the skin, but I assume it would be juuuuust fine.

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