Pista badam peda
A jaggery based sweet with almond and pistachios; not overtly sweet and easy to make
Ingredients
- ¾ cup blanched amonds
- ¼ cup pistachios
- ½ cup jaggery (grated or cut into very small and thin pieces)
- ¼ cup water
- a few almond and pistachio slivers to decorate on top
Instructions
- Pulse together the almonds and pistachios. Do this in short bursts to prevent the nuts getting sticky and turning into nut butter. The mixture des not need to be a fine powder.
- Place a thick bottomed (non stick) pan over low to medium heat.
- Add the jaggery and water. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat till the jaggery melts.
- Stir continuously with a spatula till a single thread consistency is achieved. You can test this by taking a tiny bit of the mixture from the spatula ( be careful, it will be hot) between your thumb and index finger, then pressing down on it and taking the fingers apart. If you see a thread of jaggery between your thumb and index finger, it is the correct consistency. Make sure you reduce the heat to low when testing, to prevent burning or overcooking the jaggery mixture.
- Add the nuts mixture and over low heat, mix well with a spatula.
- Keep stirring constantly until the mixture comes away from the pan, but is still a little sticky. This took me just about 2 minutes after the nuts were added to get the right consistency.
- Transfer the mixture to the parchment or greased dish.
- Start to fold the mixture with a spatula; the mixture will be too hot to handle by hand. The mixture will gradually come together as it cools.
- Once the mixture is cool enough to handle, gently knead it and bring together into a ball. Let it cool.
- Don't skip the cooling part as the mix will still be slightly tacky.
- Once cold, with greased hands, shape into a couple of sausages and divide into 15 portions.
- Shape each portion into a ball and press a sliver each of almond and pistachio on top.
- Store in air tight containers a little apart from each other as they may stick.