Ingredients
- 400 gms sweetened condensed milk, 1 tin
- 4 to 5 cups full fat milk, 1 to 1.25 litres full fat milk ( you can adjust the amount of milk from 4 cups to 5 cups or more depending on the sweetness of the condensed milk. Add the amount of milk as per your requirement.)
- 5 cardamoms, powdered in a mortar-pestle
- 12 to 15 cashews, chopped
- 12 to 15 pistachios, chopped
- 12 to 15 almonds, chopped
- 7 to 8 strands of saffron
- a generous pinch of nutmeg powder
- a few strands of saffron for garnish
Method
- Add milk and condensed milk in a thick bottomed saucepan or kadai. Stir and mix well.
- The amount of milk to be added depends on the sweetness of the condensed milk. So for one tin of condensed milk, you can add up to 4 to 5 cups of milk or more. Add the amount of milk as per your taste.
- Heat this mixture on a low flame and bring to a gentle boil. Keep on stirring at intervals so that the mixture does not get browned or burnt from bottom.
- The basundi mixture would begin to thicken.
- Scrape the milk solids from the sides and the cream collected on the top and add it back to the basundi mixture. Overall cooking takes about 20 to 25 minutes on a low flame.
- Add nutmeg powder, chopped dry fruits, cardamom powder and saffron.
- Chopped dry fruits, cardamom powder and saffron.
- Stir and simmer for a minute.
- Serve basundi hot, warm or chilled garnished with some saffron strands.
General guidelines for healthier food – Both body and mind:
- One should be thinking about Perumal (Nama Smaranam) while cooking, and the purpose should be to offer the preparation to Him.
- Once the food is prepared, it should be offered to Perumal first. While offering, one should make sure that the food is neither too hot nor cold. It should be offered with love and affection.
- Please do not offer either pre-cooked food bought from outside or any pre-consumed food.
- Please follow thiruvaradanam kramam as instructed by your respective acharya. (http://anudinam.org/2012/03/08/bhagavad-tiruvaradhanam/)
- Follow ahara niyamam as much as possible. Atleast make sure that onion and garlic are not used at all.(http://anudinam.org/2012/06/11/srivaishnava-ahara-niyamam/)
- Please ensure that food which are not prasadams are not consumed.
I would suggest that one should not taste food before it is offered to God. This is the Hindu way.
One would not taste any food or raw materials used in preparing a food until the completed food item is presented to God. This is the Brahmin way. Hence I wonder how you recommend that the mixture of milk and condensed milk be tasted to determine the sweetness of the mixture.