This Badam Halwa is made with almond flour and is so easy to make in the Instant Pot. This takes much less time and effort compared to traditional halwa so you don’t have to wait for special occasions to enjoy it!

I am excited to share yet another dessert made with almond flour with you all. This is an easy badam halwa recipe which comes together rather quickly in the Instant Pot.

Before I was introduced to almond flour, the only way I knew to make badam halwa was to first soak the almonds, then remove the skin, grind them and then cook it with ghee to make halwa.

It tasted incredible but took a whole lot of time and effort. If you have been following my blog for a while, then you know that I love making elaborate desserts (sometimes!) but during the festive time, I am all about quick and easy recipes.

Almond flour just happens to be one of my favorite ingredients in the kitchen during Diwali. It’s super easy to make burfi, ladoo and halwa with it! This badam halwa is made with very basic ingredients and results in a rich and creamy halwa thus making it perfect for the festive season.

This Badam Halwa

• is low in effort compared to traditional badam halwa.
• needs only 6 ingredients!
• is gluten-free and can be made vegan.
• makes a rich and creamy halwa.
• perfect treat for the festive season.

The process to make this halwa is really simple. You just have to add everything to the pot and then pressure cook. The active cooking time starts once the halwa is pressure cooked. You have to sauté it until the water evaporates and stir continuously. So that’s the only bit of work that you have to do for this halwa.

Ingredients

Almond flour: for this recipe I have used Bob’s red mill fine almond flour. This works best for this recipe. You may use almond meal but I would not recommend it.

Sugar: granulated white sugar is what I have used. You may also use brown sugar.

Milk: any milk of choice can be used. Milk makes the halwa creamier. You can even skip the milk and use only water as the liquid.

Flavoring: the halwa is flavored with saffron and cardamom.

Step by Step

1- Heat 1 tablespoon milk in a small pan on medium heat. Once it’s hot (no need to boil it), add crushed saffron strands to it. Remove pan from heat and set it aside for 5 minutes for the flavor and color to develop.

2- Press the saute button on the Instant pot. Then press the adjust button to set saute to “less”. Once it’s hot, add 2 tablespoons ghee and then add the almond flour.

3- Sauté the almond flour on “less” for 2 minutes.

4- Then add the water and milk.

5- Also add the prepared saffron milk.

6- And the sugar.

7 & 8- Using a whisk mix, until it’s all combined. There should be nothing sticking at the bottom.

9- Close the lid and press the pressure cook or manual button. Adjust pressure to “low” by pressing the adjust button. Cook on low pressure for 2 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position. Quick release the pressure.

10- Open the lid, the halwa will look very watery at this point. Press sauté. The sauté will be set to “less” (because we did that in the beginning) so you will have to press the adjust button to move sauté to “normal” again. Now add 1 tablespoon ghee and start sautéing the halwa. You have to stir continuously.

11- Add cardamom powder and continue to stir on sauté mode. Add remaining 1 tablespoon ghee while sautéing as well. So we added total of 2 more tablespoons of ghee while sautéing the halwa after it was pressure cooked.

12- In total you would sauté for 8 to 10 minutes until the halwa thickens and leaves the sides (this time may vary depending on the size of the Instant Pot). It will continue to thick as it cools down so keep that in mind and do not make it super thick. Unplug the Instant Pot and remove halwa into another bowl else it will continue to thicken as may also burn from the bottom. Serve warm, you can garnish with nuts if you like.

Making The Halwa in 8qt or Newer Models

The newer IP models are more prone to the burn issue and hence need little more water than the older models. Same is the case with 8 qt is which is big, has bigger surface area and hence might need additional liquid.

This recipe was tested in a newer IP 6qt model and hence I have used little extra liquid here. This much liquid should not cause a burn message or have problems with halwa sticking to the pot. If you have a 8qt, you might need a little more liquid.

Using Older Instant Pot Model

If you have an older Instant Pot model, you may reduce the liquids by 1/4 cup. So the total liquid will be 1 & 1/4 cups and not 1 & 1/2 cups that I have used here.

Making It Vegan

This halwa can be made vegan!

• replace the milk with non-dairy milk. I would recommend almond milk.
• use coconut oil or any other oil in place of ghee.

Making on stove-top

You can also easily make this badam halwa on stove-top. Reduce the total liquid to 3/4 to 1 cup for stove-top (as compared to 1 & 1/2 cups that I have used for Instant pot version).

To a pan add milk, water, sugar and saffron strands and heat until the sugar dissolves. You don’t need to boil it, just heat it.

Meanwhile add 2 tablespoons ghee in a pan on stove-top. Add the almond flour and cook for around 4 minutes until it’s fragrant and the raw smell goes away.

Then add the liquid into the pan, be careful, this will bubble a lot. Keep stirring, add remaining 2 tablespoons of ghee and cook stirring continuously until the halwa thickens. You don’t want it to thicken a lot but it should reach a pudding like consistency. Remove pan from heat and transfer halwa to a serving bowl. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tips & Notes

• To avoid halwa sticking to the pot, make sure that all the flour is well mixed with the liquid, using a whisk might help. Also before you pressure cook, make sure nothing is sticking at the bottom. As mentioned above, if you have a newer model or 8qt, follow the quantity of liquid mentioned in the recipe. In fact the 8qt might need even more water.
• Using milk makes the halwa creamier, you may use water only in this recipe.
• I recommend using almond flour for this recipe. Almond meal which isn’t as fine as the flour is not recommended.
• To make the halwa vegan, use oil in place of ghee (use neutral tasting oil or coconut oil) and non-dairy milk (almond milk preferably).
• Use 75 grams of sugar for a less sweeter halwa.

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