Kesar Basundi / Saffron Condensed Milk

How to make Kesar Basundi at home

Features:

Cuisine:

Indian

40 minutes+2 hours cooling time
Serves 2
Easy

Directions

Kesar Basundi is a sweet and luscious traditional Indian sweet that is usually served in our Gujarati family during festivals and occasions. It is prepared by boiling milk and reducing it to half and sweetening it with sugar. The flavors are further enhanced with cardamom powder and nutmeg powder (optional). There are many variations to this sweet. This is a basic and traditional recipe of Basundi which is infused with saffron and garnished with Almonds.

When it comes to Traditional Indian sweets there are no shortcuts. It may be little time consuming but worth the wait and effort. As you all may know I have a weakness for Indian Sweets. They make me drool all the time and being a Gujarati we always feast on this Kesar Basundi. Finally, I have learned to make it at home and the recipe is worth the time.

If you also have a sweet tooth like me, you may like these Indian sweets:

All these Indian sweet recipes are made during festivals like Diwali, Navratri, Bhai beej and other occasions like birthdays and weddings. No Indian festival is complete without these delicacies. Do try making it at home and serve this to your loved ones on the special occasions.

Steps

1 Done	In a heavy bottom pan, add high-fat milk and keep it on a medium flame. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat from medium to low and keep stirring every 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and keep cooking the milk till it reduces in half quantity.
2 Done	Meanwhile, take a small bowl and add saffron strands in it. Add 2 tbsp of warm milk in the saffron strands so that the saffron infuses its color and aroma in it.
3 Done	Once the milk starts reducing add sugar in it. Stir and Mix it well so that sugar starts dissolving in the milk. Now add cardamom powder and saffron strands and stir for 2-3 minutes. Switch off the flame and transfer the Kesar basundi in a bowl and bring it to a room temperature. Garnish with almond slices and chill it in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Serve it chilled.
4 Done	Notes: Always use a heavy bottom pan for making basundi and keep stirring in between. The milk may sit at the bottom if left unattended. Scrape the sides of the pan and while stirring mix it in the milk. it will give a nice grainy texture and volume to the basundi.
5 Done	Serving suggestions: Traditionally it is served with Puri and Aloo ki subzi and I always like to serve it chilled. You can also serve it as a dessert.