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    Home » indian sweet

    Vegan Almond Halwa – Instant Pot Badam Halwa (No Oil)

    Published: Oct 23, 2019 by Richa 34 Comments

    Jump to Recipe   Print Recipe

    Vegan Almond Halwa – Instant Pot Badam Halwa with No Added Refined oil. No ghee or dairy! 5 Mins active time. 6 Ingredients! And Almond Ladoo too! Gluten-free Grain-free Soy-free Recipe. Jump to Recipe

    Vegan Almond Halwa - Instant Pot Badam Halwa in white and grey bowls

    Its that time of the year! No not Halloween, Its Diwali this weekend! All festivals and holidays seem to all come close to each other. One day I am planning bowl meals and the next I am thinking pumpkin, Indian sweets, desserts, lentil loafs.

    This Diwali I bring you 3 variations of Almond Halwa! Indian Halwa can range in texture from a crumble to a set jelly like to soft spoon fudge like. You can make this halwa into any of the textures you like! If you don’t want to use the spoon, roll it up into balls for amazing almond ladoos.

    Traditional Badam Halwa recipe often requires making a sugar syrup of certain consistency, then adding almonds(soaked and blended or ground) and cooking for a good number of minutes. This recipe has none of that! No standing around in the kitchen stirring stuff and no checking on the sugar to get the right syrup thread consistency.

    Just mix the sugar of choice in the hot water, Add flavors such as cardamom, saffron, rose water or cinnamon. Add in almond flour (blanched works great) and pressure cook. Done and done. With pressure cooking, the sugar, water mixture thickens and the almond flour rehydrates very quickly.  Did I mention, you don’t need any butter or oil as well! Ok lets make this. If you double the recipe(which you will want to), add a minute to the pressure cooking time.

    Vegan Almond Halwa made into almond ladoo

    Ingredients for Vegan Almond Halwa

    You will need

    • hot water
    • sugar of choice. Use cane sugar for lighter color halwa, jaggery powder, coconut sugar, date sugar or other unrefined sugar of choice.
    • a few drops of lime juice and a good pinch of salt (this adds the ghee/butter like flavor)
    • Flavors: such as whole cardamom seeds, ground cardamom, ground cinnamon,or saffron strands.
    • Almond flour. Use blanched almond flour for lighter colored halwa or use regular with skin almond flour. You can make you own ground almonds by blending raw almonds in a blender. The almonds may tend to get buttery, which is ok. or add a tbsp starch to ensure more flour like result.

    First Picture uses 3 tbsp water, whole cardamom seeds and unrefined sugar. The picture below used cane sugar, saffron and 1/2 cup of water.

    Depending on the water amount used, you will get the consistency in the first picture or the below picture. The thicker lumpy halwa in the first picture can be rolled into balls.

    Kesar Vegan Almond Halwa - Instant Pot Badam Halwa with saffron

    How to make Vegan Badam Halwa in the Instant Pot with step pictures

    Mix the sugar in hot water. Add lime, salt and cardamom/other flavors and mix in.
    Add almond flour and press and mix. Below is halwa with unrefined sugar, cardamom seeds and 3 tbsp water.

    Ingredients for our Vegan Almond Halwa Instant Pot Badam Halwa in bowls Sugar mixture for our Vegan Almond Halwa in a white baking dish Almond Mixture for our Vegan Almond Halwa in a white baking dish


    For thinner Halwa, use 1/2 cup water. Below is halwa with saffron,more water and cane sugar.

    Sugar and saffron mixture for our Almond Halwa in white baking dish

    Almond saffron mixture for our Almond Halwa in white baking dish

    Add 1.5 cups water to the Instant Pot. Cover the dish with a light lid and place in the pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 5 mins. Natural release.

    Scoop into serving bowls. Indian sweets are served in small amounts. So this will serve 4 in Indian serving size, or 2 regular serves.

    Garnish with chopped nuts, raisins or chopped dates.
    To make ladoos: Chill for half an hour, then roll into balls. Garnish with coconut, finely chopped nuts or seeds of choice.

    Vegan Almond Halwa in white baking dish in an Instant Pot Baking dish for our almond halwa covered with a stee lplate

    More Indian Sweets

    • Malai Ladoo GF
    • Gajar Halwa- Carrot Spoon fudge GF.
    • Mango Sheera / Halwa 
    • Mango Burfi – GF Bars
    • Kesar Peda – GF Saffron almond fudge cookies
    • 7 Cup Burfi – Chickpea flour coconut Fudge. GF
    • Brown Rice Pudding– GF
    • More Indian Sweets like Gulab jamun, Kaju Katli,Laddoos.

    Savory Snacks and Meals:

    • Potato Rice Crackers. GF
    • Potato Quinoa Patties.
    • Butter Tofu – Tofu in tomato Cream Sauce GF
    • Coconut Korma GF

    Vegan Almond Halwa - Instant Pot Badam Halwa in white and grey bowls

    Can I make this with other nuts?

    Yes, you can make it with cashews, pistachios or macadamia nuts. Use a coarse flour. Cashews will tend to make thicker halwa.

    I don’t have almond flour, What do I use?

    You can make you own ground almonds by blending raw almonds in a blender. The almonds may tend to get buttery, which is ok. or add a tbsp starch to ensure more flour like result. Or use other nut flour. You cannot substitute grain flour as grain flours absorb a lot more liquid. Similarly coconut flour will absorb a lot of liquid and will not work.

    Can I make the Halwa directly in the Instant Pot

    No, the almonds will burn with the direct heat.

    Vegan Almond Halwa - Instant Pot Badam Halwa in white bowl

    Recipe Card

    Vegan Almond Halwa - Instant Pot Badam Halwa in white and grey bowls
    Print Recipe
    4.91 from 10 votes

    Vegan Almond Halwa (Instant Pot Badam Halwa) Oil-free

    Vegan Almond Halwa & Almond Ladoo - Instant Pot Badam Halwa with no added refined oil. No ghee or dairy! 5 Mins active time. 6 Ingredients! Gluten-free Grain-free Soy-free Recipe. Makes 4 Indian size servings

    Prep Time5 minutes mins
    Cook Time15 minutes mins
    Total Time20 minutes mins
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Indian
    Keyword: badaam halwa, badam halwa, badam ladoo, instant pot almond halwa, vegan badam halwa
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 219kcal
    Author: Vegan Richa

    Ingredients

    • 3 to 8 tbsp water (3 Tbsp water for crumbly Halwa and for ladoos, 1/2 cup(8 tbsp) water for thin pudding like halwa, 1/3 cup water for thick halwa)
    • 1/3 cup (66.67 g) sugar (cane sugar,conut sugar, or jaggery powder)
    • 3 drops of lime juice
    • 1/8 tsp salt
    • Flavors: cardamom seeds from 4 green cardamom pods(see note), or 6 to 8 saffron strands, or 1/8 tsp cinnamon, or 1/2 tsp rose water
    • 1 cup (112 g) almond flour

    Instructions

    • Add hot water to a baking dish or pyrex** that fits your instant pot. Add the sugar and mix in. Add the lime juice, salt and flavors(cardamom, saffron etc) and mix in. (See notes for stove top)
    • Add almond flour and press and mix. With less water, you will have to press and mix so there are no dry lumps. if making the thinner halwa, use a whisk to mix in the almond flour.
    • Add 1.5 cups of water to the instant pot. Place the dish in the steamer basket and lower into the instant pot. Cover with a light lid or foil.
    • Close the lid and pressure cook for 5 minutes at high pressure. Let the pressure release naturally.
    • Carefully remove the dish from the instant pot. Garnish with chopped nuts, raisins or chopped dates and serve.
    • To make ladoos: Chill almond halwa made with 3 tbsp water, for half an hour, then roll into balls. Roll in coconut, finely chopped nuts or seeds of choice, or drizzle with chocolate for a halloween treat.
    • Store: Store on the counter for the day. Refrigerate for upto 5 days.

    Video

    Notes

    ** You can also use the steel insert. The thicker pyrex or baking dish cooks more evenly and the halwa doesnt stick as much to them.
    Green Cardamom: Use a knife to slice open the cardamom pod. Remove the black/grey seeds and break them into individual seeds if they are clumped. You can also use 1/4 tsp ground cardamom instead.
    Stove Top: Use 1/2 cup water, add to a skillet over medium heat with sugar, flavor,salt and lime. Bring to a boil. Cook for another minute. Then fold in the almond flour. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook for 5 to 10 mins or until desired consistency. Stir occasionally.    
    Almond flour: You can make your own almond flour by blending raw almonds in a blender. Add a tbsp of starch so that the almond flour does not get too buttery. You can also use other other nut flour such as macadamia, cashew, pistachio.
    Variations:
    Use half coconut shreds(small shred, process in blender to make small shreds for best result) and half almond to make coconut almond ladoo. 
    Add 2 tsp vegan butter for decadent halwa. 
     
    Nutrition is for 1 serve

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Vegan Almond Halwa (Instant Pot Badam Halwa) Oil-free
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 219 Calories from Fat 126
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 14g22%
    Saturated Fat 1g6%
    Sodium 73mg3%
    Carbohydrates 23g8%
    Fiber 3g13%
    Sugar 18g20%
    Protein 6g12%
    Calcium 59mg6%
    Iron 1mg6%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you Love the Recipe, Please consider rating it using stars in comments! It helps readers and helps more people find the recipe online! I love hearing from you all! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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    1. Hetal

      March 27, 2023 at 11:34 am

      5 stars
      Made and loved this, esp for the effort! Just 5 mins to mix everything and instapot does the rest. Plus, you can serve it as a hot dessert!

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        March 27, 2023 at 6:36 pm

        yes! yay!

        Reply
    2. GV

      September 10, 2022 at 11:52 pm

      This is an amazing recipe, really love the taste especially if I use a little less sweetener than in the recipe. However my one gripe is that the serving size listed is teeny. I made an 8 serving size for 8 people and each guest got just a spoonful.☹️ I forgot this and made it a second time a couple of months later and made the mistake of referring to the website recipe and again ended up with way too little halwa to serve, which was again very frustrating … unfortunately I will need to copy this somewhere else and put a note to multiply all the quantities by 2 at the very least

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        September 11, 2022 at 2:20 pm

        Thank you GV ; glad that you made it a second time. Usually with Indian sweets they are a little on the smaller side because they tend to be pretty sweet!!

        Reply
    3. Aarti

      February 04, 2021 at 9:07 am

      5 stars
      Made the stope top version today and it came out delicious. Quick and easy. I love all your recipes!!!! They always come out perfect and yummy. Can’t wait for the instant pot cookbook!

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        February 05, 2021 at 4:26 pm

        thanks for popping in ♡ and for your support

        Reply
    4. Varsha

      January 01, 2021 at 6:30 pm

      Looks interesting, will surely try.

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        January 01, 2021 at 7:07 pm

        Awesome!! Do leave a rating too!

        Reply
    5. Sejal Kunchwar

      October 13, 2020 at 2:45 pm

      5 stars
      Tried the arove top version. Turned out better than i thought!

      Thabks for the recipe. I have dairy allergies so making desserts is always challenging with fewer choices.

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        October 14, 2020 at 5:58 pm

        perfect – i’m so glad that you found me!

        Reply
    6. Ashwini Venkatesh

      August 11, 2020 at 9:26 pm

      5 stars
      Was so so delicious!

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        August 12, 2020 at 2:25 pm

        thank you so much for the rave review

        Reply
    7. K

      July 22, 2020 at 5:30 am

      5 stars
      Love this recipe! Made it as halwa and as balls too. An easy quick sweet fix. Definitely a keeper.

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        July 22, 2020 at 3:05 pm

        oh wow, nice one. Thank you!!!

        Reply
    8. Dylan

      May 28, 2020 at 9:54 pm

      5 stars
      Just made this today! As a vegan the last 13 years, it’s so nice to enjoy some Badam Halwa again! It used to come as a dessert at combination platters in my favorite south Indian restaurants in NYC, it would be the only non-vegan item on those platters. Now I have it back, and with my instant pot at that! Saffron, Cardamon, 1/3rd water worked great for me. I’ll probably subtract a tablespoon or two of sugar, but frankly that’s nit picking. Thank you so much for sharing this. I found adding a tablespoon of Miyoko’s butter really sticks the landing.

      Reply
      • Richa

        May 28, 2020 at 10:53 pm

        Awesome! Yes some vegan butter def adds the restaurant like flavor as they usually would cook the Halwa in a boatload of clarified butter

        Reply
    9. Shriti

      February 15, 2020 at 2:58 am

      Thank you for the recipe…came out very well..I did some modifications as I don’t use pressure cooker!

      Reply
    10. Shubhi

      February 13, 2020 at 2:02 pm

      Looking forward to trying this! I don’t have a Pyrex insert for my instant pot, so I was wondering if I could make it in my regular stove top pressure cooker. Thanks in advance!

      Reply
      • Richa

        February 13, 2020 at 2:42 pm

        you need to cook it pot in pot. use a steel one. if you put it directly in the cooker, almond flour will burn

        Reply
    11. Sumita

      January 22, 2020 at 8:14 pm

      4 stars
      Really good and so easy to make! The only change I would make is reduce the sugar. This turned out too sweet for me.

      Reply
    12. Ann

      October 25, 2019 at 6:16 am

      5 stars
      I love halva, although I tried it in a different interpretation before, there are many kinds of it. By the way, I never tried to cook halva by myself. It is very interesting that this halva is almond. Before that, I only tried it made of sunflower seeds, peanuts or sesame seeds. Be sure to try this recipe, it looks quite simple to prepare. Thank you!

      Reply
    13. Doreen

      October 24, 2019 at 11:50 am

      Thank you so much. You give me so much inspiration to cook and be oil free too!

      Reply
    14. Doreen

      October 24, 2019 at 9:09 am

      Could I make the Israeli halva like this with ground sesame seeds?

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 24, 2019 at 11:39 am

        It might work. Make a half recipe to see.

        Reply
    15. Bobbi Dwyer

      October 24, 2019 at 4:35 am

      5 stars
      Looks wonderful. Will make it today! I’ve always loved Indian sweets, but not all the ghee.😉

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 24, 2019 at 11:41 am

        🙂 Thanks!

        Reply
    16. Rae

      October 23, 2019 at 6:38 pm

      Can it only be cooked in an Instant Pot or is it just quicker??

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 23, 2019 at 10:23 pm

        See notes for stove top instructions. it is faster and hands off. With the stove you have to be around so the almond doesnt burn etc.

        Reply
    17. Garima

      October 23, 2019 at 1:23 pm

      This is great! Since going dairy free, I have been missing my fav Indian desserts. Can you please share moong dal halwa vegan recipe? Many thanks!!!

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 23, 2019 at 1:39 pm

        Yes, its in my to do list!

        Reply
    18. Maneesha

      October 23, 2019 at 10:33 am

      WOW this is amazing, Richa! Definitely will try this! Could you place aluminum foil over the pyrex container in lieu of a light lid?

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 23, 2019 at 10:54 am

        yes you can! i forgot to add that option.

        Reply
    19. Sue

      October 23, 2019 at 6:21 am

      Happy Diwali Richa!

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 23, 2019 at 11:10 am

        Thank you Sue!

        Reply

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