A sweet, layered, crispy, deep-fried delicacy of Karnataka, badam puri is an absolute delight during festivals. These badam puri/almond crackers, unlike the traditional ones, have badam/almonds in it and are sweetened with sugar. They make great Diwali sweet gifts, all wrapped in cute boxes.
All eight of us are put to work. Uncles, dad, mom and I. The prep for the big day of the year begins a week before the day. There’s the shopping for the pooja, the lights are put up. The home is cleaned; the baseboards, the fans, and every inch of the home are dusted and shown love. Shopping for new clothes is such a fun experience. The streets are filled with happy people carrying at least three bags on each hand. The spirit of this festival can be seen in their eyes and in the streets.
A few days before the big day, ghee and oil are bought in large quantities. Mom and grandma start getting ready to make the snacks, Diwali sweets. Three, five, or seven and sometimes nine is the number of snacks that they make. Two snacks per day is what they calculate. Three days, many hours and we have large steel boxes all lined in the corner of the small kitchen, about 3-foot containers filled with snacks. In and out of the kitchen, the family snacks on them.
One day before the big day, the front yard is washed and huge rangoli/kolam is drawn by the artist woman of the home. Walk that street and you’ll find 9 out of 10 homes have some kind of lamps in the kolam. The day arrives when everyone wakes up before dawn to take a cleansing bath with oil and shikhakai (homemade shampoo). New clothes are kept in the altar for blessings. Let all things be blessed. The older person of the household hands out the clothes, and we take blessings and adorn ourselves with everything new, hoping that the new year brings love, light, happiness. Just like the smell of the new clothes.
The young kids go down to the streets and start lighting fireworks while the women of the house start the preparation for the vegetarian grand feast. The sounds, the sights, everything is a joy.
The day flies by quickly, and we reach the evening warmth of golden light. The ladies start prepping the diyas/lamps, to be lit around the corridors, the balconies, and the front yard. Cautiously, each oil filled diya is placed all around the home. The front yard with the pretty kolam gets special diyas. Prayers are said and all women are adorned in their beautiful new clothes. Diwali sweets are arranged neatly in platters, a crocheted cloth covers the plate and it’s handed to the little ones of the home. I very carefully have to give it to our neighbors. A little while later, we all sit in the front room, take blessings of elders, eat and chat through the night.
Festival of lights. A festival that honors the moral victories of good over evil.
Have a joyous Diwali, be the light in someone’s life. Make everyday count. The true meaning of Diwali lies in brightening one person’s day every single day. Think good, do good. Happy Diwali!!
This famous sweet treat of Karnataka, funnily enough considering its name, badam puri, doesn’t have badam or almond in it. The traditional version is a short crust kind of mix with ghee and deep fried, then it’s soaked in a delicious syrup with cardamom and saffron. I LOVE IT. Although I enjoy that treat, I wanted to create something that has almond meal/flour/powder in it. I also wanted to skip the sugar syrup part. This is a dry sweet, a flaky badam puri that is sweetened, and has flecks of saffron and cardamom in it.
Making Badam Puri
Badam puri is made like a short crust with ghee in it. This mix has almond powder, saffron, sugar, cardamom in the mix. Very slowly, ghee is drizzled in to form a dough. The dough should be stiff and not soft. Add a tbsp of water at a time to pull the dough together.
Make sure to flour the surface a little so it doesn’t stick to the surface. Fold it into thirds to form a triangle, prick it and secure it with a clove, just like the traditional way. Deep fry in vegetable oil on medium heat until it golden brown. Take it out and sprinkle some granulated sugar for that extra sugary crunch (hey, it’s the festivities).
What diwali sweets are you making? Do share your fond Diwali memories in the comments, I’d love to read.
If you make this Badam Puri, tag me on social media#foodfashionparty. I’d love to see it.
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- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup almond meal/flour
- 2 tsp ghee
- pinch tsp baking soda
- ⅓ cup coarse sugar
- ⅓ tsp salt
- 5 cardamom pods, powdered
- pinch saffron
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 2 tbsp rice flour
- 20 cloves
- Oil to deep fry
- In a large plate or bowl, add the all purpose flour, almond meal ghee, baking soda, coarse sugar, salt, cardamom powder, crushed saffron. Mix everything together. Using your clean hand mix everything like a short crust pasty. Let the ghee distribute evenly throughout. If you press the dough in your palm, it forms a loose ball.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of water at a time and make a dough. DO NOT work the dough too much. It will be soft, yet a firm dough. It comes together easily. Cover and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes.
- In a tablespoon of ghee, add rice flour and whip it for a minute. Set aside.
- Make 20-24 equal portions of the dough. The ball should be about an inch in diameter.
- Using some all purpose flour, roll the dough thinly. Spread a little rice flour mixture on the dough. Fold it into a triangle. Pierce with a fork. Pin a clove in each.
- Heat the oil to deep fry the puris.
- Keep the oil on low heat and deep fry each puri to a golden brown. Take it out and sprinkle some granulated sugar.
Yummy! Saffron must have added so much flavours here.
oh yes, it’s a nice addition.
xo
I could make this recipe for Diwali btw. 😍👌
Here goes my entry for the contest- This is my friend Arati @namsekar_arati who is my mate at work and fellow food lover. 😄💞
My favorite Diwali memories are making rangoli. In my house, we do it after intensive festive food preparation in the afternoon. 😅 Me and my sister save design ideas many days in advance. We laugh through the rangoli making process correcting our techniques. I love the process of creation (like cooking). It’s funny how our parents, neighbors, guests look forward to it too (along with the food of course).
I think all the efforts- lights, food, dressing up, gifts make Diwali so special. But love it at the core. It’s my favorite festival.😊
They look so tasty. I never heard of them in Bangalore. Looks like an authentic treasure of a recipe to hold on to. I will try it for sure. Meera