Prepare the Badam Milk

1. First, you will blanch the almonds or you can use already blanched almonds and skip step 1 and 2. Blanching is just a fancy word to say that you will remove the dark and papery skin of the almond to reveal its shiny-white interior. To do this, boil enough water (~1/2 cup) to cover the almonds. Pour the boiling water over the almonds and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Drain the almonds and rinse them with cold water to quickly cool them down. Squeeze and pinch each almond between your fingers to remove its skin. Tada - you’ve blanched almonds! 
3. Use a blender or food processor to grind the blanched almonds. Add ½  cup of the milk into the blender until a semi-gritty paste forms.
4. Add the badam paste, the rest of the milk, cardamom pods, strands of saffron, and the sugar into a saucepan on medium-low heat until the milk starts boiling, the sugar dissolves, and the paste is mixed with the milk (about 5 minutes). Stir often so that the milk doesn’t burn. When the milk starts to boil, immediately turn the heat to low and let simmer for 5 more minutes. This ensures the raw taste of the almond cooks out.
5.  Let  milk cool for at least 5 minutes and pull out the whole cardamom pods. Take 1.5 cups of the milk for the batter and keep the rest as a syrup alternative to soak your pancakes in. 

Prepare Pancakes

1. Mix baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour in a large bowl. 
2. In a separate medium bowl beat your egg, melted ghee or butter, and 1.5 cups of badam milk. 
3. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined and no dry spots remain. 
4. Heat a pan or griddle over low heat. (There are a lot of sugars in the batter so avoid using high heat for the pancakes). Lightly oil your pan with either ghee or neutral oil. Scoop out about ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle for every pancake. The batter is on the thicker side so you may need an additional spoon to help scoop out the batter and spread in the pan. Flip once you see bubbles on the surface and light browning on the sides of the pancake. Cook until both sides are golden.
5. Serve with leftover badam milk, shaved almonds, syrup of your choice, or plain!