Kaju katli is that one Indian mithai (sweet) that is gifted to friends and family on most joyous occasions and festivals. Traditionally, cashew katli recipe is made by making a thick sugar syrup, to which the powdered cashews are added. The mixture is cooked to a stage where it forms a dough. It is then kneaded while it is still warm, rolled out, and cut into diamond shapes. The method is quite tricky as it depends on the consistency of the sugar syrup, if the syrup is too thick, the fudge will turn hard.
Kaju is the Hindi name for cashew nut and katli means a thin slice. katli is a diamond-shaped Indian sweet, sort of an Indian cashew candy or cashew fudge. Kaju katli is sometimes also known as kaju barfi.
A barfi is usually quite a thick piece, around 1-2 inches thick, katli, on the other hand, is thin,
like a quarter of an inch thick.
Barfi is made with mawa or khoya and sugar, katli on the other hand is almost vegan,
except for the little ghee that may be used for greasing to help roll out the dough.
This Diwali or holi, don’t buy kaju katli, rather make it at home along with your other regular goodies. This pure, unadulterated, and delicious, sweet cashew katli will surely impress your friends and family.
This particular recipe for kaju katli has a pretty good shelf life, as there is no milk
nor ghee used here. Store kaju ki katli in an airtight container. It will last for about 2 weeks at
room temperature and up to a month or even two months in the refrigerator.
Try our other recipes : Mawa Burfi | Mawa Modak | Jalebi | Vanilla ice-cream
Add some cocoa powder, along with the sifted powdered sugar and follow the same recipe to make Chocolate kaju katli recipe.
Kesar kaju katli – Dry roast some saffron (kesar) strands, then powder it in the
mortar pestle, and add to the cashew nut powder and sugar mixture, proceed with the recipe.
Kaju pista roll– Prepare the cashew dough, and use the same procedure to
make a pistachio dough, shape it into a thin cylindrical roll. Roll out the cashew dough
to a rectangular shape, similar to the way shown in the instructions below, but slightly thinner. Pace this cylindrical pista roll on one end, then start rolling the cashew dough, until you reached the other end. Cut out about 1 inch thick slices.
Kaju Katli
Ingredients
- 520 grams Cashew nuts
- 300 grams White granulated sugar
- 1 cup Water
- 1 leaf Edible silver leaf Varakh as needed optional
Instructions
- If you keep cashew nut in fridge then remove the required amount of cashews from the fridge and let them come to room temperature. It may take 1-2 hours depending upon the temperature at your place. **This is an important step and you cannot skip it.
- Put it into food processor and make powder by using the pulse button. Do not over-grind otherwise, it starts to release the oil and becomes wet, pasty.
Cooking The Mixture:
- Take sugar and water in a heavy bottom pan on medium-low heat. Let it just come to a boil (no need to simmer).
- Add cashew powder, mix it and cook with stirring constantly.
- As it gets cooked, it starts to get thick and leaves the sides of the pan.
- Keep cooking until it comes together like a dough. Depending on the gas heat and size/shape of the pan, it may take around 8-10 minutes. CHECK: take a small portion, blow it so it is touchable, make a small ball and If it is sticking to the finger it needs more cooking. If not sticking then it is ready.
- Remove it to a greased plate and let it cool to touch. It should be warm (not cooled completely).
Kneading, Rolling & Cutting:
- Once it is cool to handle, grease your hand with ghee and knead it two-three times, make a smooth dough. DO NOT over-knead it.
- Now take a big piece of parchment paper. Put the dough ball on it and using your hand start patting and make a thick round patty. So now it will be easier to roll.
- Cover the dough with another piece of parchment paper and start rolling. The thickness should be ¼ inch to ⅓ inch. Do not roll it too thin. The circle was approx. 10-12 inches in diameter.
- using a knife cut into a diamond shape. Now let it cool completely and set. It may take around 5-10 minutes.
- Now apply the silver leaf on top. This is optional but it looks good and just like the store-bought kind. Working with varak is very tricky, you have to be very careful and do not touch it with your hand.
