Easy Basundi Recipe (Step By Step) | Cook Click N Devour!!! (2024)

Basundi is a delicious and popular Indian sweet where thickened milt is is the star ingredient. It is basically milk thickened and sweetened, further flavored with cardamom, saffron and garnished with nuts.

This milk based Indian dessert is popular in Maharastra, some parts of Karnataka and Gujarat with minor variations. Basundi is always served chilled as dessert or with poori as side dish.

For more Indian sweet recipes – gulab jamun, rice kheer, phirni, balushahi, besan ladoo, kaju katli, kalakand.

Milk based desserts are my all time favorite, especially the ones with sugar. Yep they are not light but they are so indulgent, rich and creamy. Perfect for celebrations, sugar cravings and guests.

I have a lots of milk based dessert recipes that I can vouch for and this basundi is a favorite among them.

You can make this sweet in less than 45 minutes and you need just 5-6 ingredients for my basundi recipe.

Served chilled in small cups garnished with nuts and rose petals, this is a fitting dessert after that big fat Indian meal.

Now if you are totally unfamiliar about this sweet, I am going to walk you through about this dish along with few tips and variations before going to the recipe.

What Is Basundi?

Basundi is a milk based Indian dessert or sweet prepared for festivals like Diwali, Holi, Navratri, raksha Bandan.

Traditionally to make basundi milk is simmered for hours, scraping the milks solids back into the pan. Once the milk has considerable thickened, it is sweetened with sugar and flavored with cardamom, saffron and nutmeg in some places.

Basundi is always served chilled topped with loads of nuts, rose petals etc. as dessert or warm with puri.

It is one of those luscious, rich and creamy dessert where a small portion goes way.

There are various ways to make basundi. From traditional method that takes hours to instant version where you typically use loads of sweetened condensed milk and make it in 15 minutes.

While I do not use a whole lot of condensed milk in my basundi recipe, I add a small amount of it for richness and color.That slightest caramel shade comes from condensed milk.

However to make basundi with my recipe, you don’t have to stir and simmer milk for hours. It is ready in 40 minutes.

Do try this super easy recipe to make basundi and enjoy!

This Basundi Is

Vegetarian and gluten free

rich, luscious and creamy

delicious and flavorful

ready in 40 minutes

best dessert after Indian meal.

Less prep time and less than an hour of cook time.

Ingredients

The main ingredients to make basundi are milk and sugar. All the other ingredients for flavoring and garnish can vary as per taste.

Here I have used cardamom powder, saffron for flavoring the basundi and slivered almonds, pistachios, dried rose for garnish.

Milk– For any milk based Indian sweet, it is best to use full fat or whole milk. While you can definitely use low fat milk, the taste and texture will vary significantly. To get that indulgent rich and creamy taste use full fat milk.

Condensed milk- A small amount of sweetened condensed milk is added to quicken the cooking as well as make basundi creamier and rich.

The slight shade of caramel that comes by simmering milk for hours can be achieved by adding some condensed milk.

Sugar- You can use granulated white sugar or raw organic sugar in this recipe. I have not tried this recipe with brown or coconut sugar. Jaggery might curdle the milk.

Flavoring– freshly pounded green cardamom powder and few saffron strands. Use fresh cardamom powder for best flavor in this basundi recipe.

Garnish– Basundi is always served with loads of garnishing. Slivered almonds, pistachios, rose petals, saffron are preferred garnish ingredients.

Is Rabdi And Basundi Same?

Basundi is often confused with rabdi, another milk based Indian dessert.

The ingredients for both these desserts are the same. The only the difference is the texture.

Rabdi has a thicker consistency and often served with sweets like jalebi, malpua etc. Basundi has a thinner consistency and served as dessert on its own or as side dish with poori.

Vegan Basundi

To make this dessert vegan you can use coconut or almond milk. I suggest almond milk in this recipe. I have it many times with almond milk and it tastes super rich and creamy.

No need to use condensed milk when using almond milk.

Recipe Variations

You can make basundi with loads of variations to make it interesting every time.

You can add fresh mango pulp to cooked and cooled basundi for making mango basundi.

Sitaphal basundi is another delicious variation where custard apple pulp is added to cooked and cooled basundi.

Tips To Make Basundi

Full fat milk is ideal for this basundi recipe. It makes this dessert very creamy and rich.

I have added 200 ml sweetened condensed milk for 3 cups milk. You can just use 4 cups milk and increase sugar by another 1/4 cup if you want skip condensed milk. Simmer the milk for another 25-30 minutes.

Use a heavy thick bottomed pan or non stick pan to prevent milk from sticking to the bottom.

Also make sure to keep stirring the milk continuously to prevent milk from sticking to the bottom.

As the milk simmers, milk solids will collect at the sides of the pan. Make sure to scrape them and mix back into the simmering milk.

Make Ahead & Storage Instructions

Basundi keeps well in refrigerate for 2-3 days.

Keep basundi well covered and serve chilled or you can warm gently if required. While serving you can add saffron and nuts.

Please check the below given step by step photos to make basundi recipe.

Step By Step Method

Soak a fat pinch of saffron strands in 2 tablespoons warm milk.

Add full fat milk in a heavy pan and bring to a boil.

Cook in medium flame for 10-12 minutes, stirring often.

Now add sugar, saffron soaked milk and condensed milk. Mix well.

Simmer and cook for another 15-20 minutes, stirring often.

Now add cardamom powder, rose petals and simmer for another 7-8 minutes.

Add sliced nuts.

Turn off the heat. basundi is ready

Refrigerate for few hours, transfer to serving bowl and serve basundi cold or warm with poori.

I hope you will try this basundi recipe and enjoy as much as we did. Do snap a pic and share on Instagram with hashtag#cookclickndevouand please give a star rating★in the recipe card below. Follow us onPinterest,Instagram,Facebook for more recipes and ideas. Thank you so much for being here 🙂