Kaju Katli- A rich and exquisite festive treat

It’s dessert time again on my blog. Happy Diwali to all. Festival is a time where you can eat lots of sweets and delicious food. Most common sweets made during festivals are Kaju katli, soan papdi, Mysore Pak, coconut burfi and so on. Among them, kaju katli is the most loved sweet by my family. Especially my daughter, who is a big fan of this Kaju katli. After coming here, whenever we go to Indian store, that is the first thing which she keeps in the cart. So instead of buying Kaju katli this time, I tried making them at home and surprisingly they came out perfect and tasty like the ones which we get from the shop.

This is the first time I  made Kaju katli and followed many blogs for notes and learned all the slightest details of making Kaju katli. The cashew nuts should be at room temperature. While powdering the cashews make sure they don’t turn oily. It should be soft and smooth. It will be grainy, once we start kneading it will become a smooth dough. The consistency of the sugar syrup should of one string. I used brown sugar to make syrup, so the color of my Kaju katli is light brown. This is a foolproof recipe to try. Follow all the tips and you can make perfect Kaju katli at home.

Ingredients:

1. Cashew Nuts- 2 Cups
2. Sugar- 1 Cup
3. Cardamom Powder- 1 Tsp
4. Clarified Butter/ Ghee- 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Grind the cashew nuts to a powder. They should be in powdered very fine, do not overrun the blender or else they will turn oily and lumpy. Sieve the powdered cashews and keep this aside.
2. Heat sugar along with cardamom powder by adding little water to immerse the sugar, on a low flame till the sugar syrup becomes one string consistency.
3. Mix the powdered cashews in the sugar syrup and stir well till it becomes a paste.
4. On a low flame stir well and it will start leaving the sides of the pan. Switch off the flame and stir consistently. The mixture will turn into a dough.
5. Let it rest for 5- 10 minutes. On a greased parchment paper, drop the mixture and start to knead using greased hands. It will be hot, take care not to burn your hands.
6. Slowly knead well and the dough will become soft and smooth. Add ghee while kneading.
7. Roll the dough, using a greased rolling pin, into a thin layer and cut it diagonally to make pieces. Serve or store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Note:

• While kneading, if the dough looks dry, add little milk or else no need of adding milk.
• While making sugar syrup, keep the flame low.