Kaji Katli(Kaju Barfi) is a popular North Indian sweet made with cashew nuts, sugar, and cardamom powder, and the homemade ones taste so much better than the store-bought ones. Kaju means “Cashews” and katli means “slice”. Kaju Katli is a rich traditional sweet with a smooth melt-in-mouth texture and is one of the most gifted and celebrated sweets during the festive season especially Diwali. It is a sweet loved by all including kids and is a perfect treat to spread joy on any occasion, celebrations, and for gifting.
The Traditional way of making kaju katli requires a sugar syrup of one-string consistency to which cashew powder/paste is added and cooked. Today, I will be sharing an easier version of preparing kaju katli for beginners with no sugar-syrup consistency. The Homemade version is better in taste as it’s made with good quality cashews and no added preservatives which makes this sweet even more delicious and addictive than the store-bought ones.
HERE IS OUR RECIPE VIDEO OF KAJU KATLI TO WATCH!
HERE IS THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THE RECIPE!
Kaju Katli
Kaji Katli(Kaju Barfi) is a popular North Indian sweet made with cashew nuts, sugar, and cardamom powder, and the homemade ones taste so much better than the store-bought ones
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cashew nuts
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1 tsp Ghee
- 1/4th tsp Cardamom powder
- Silver warq (optional)
Instructions
Grinding Cashews
- Use Good quality big-size cashews.Place the cashews in a spice/small grinder. Grind small amounts of cashew at one time. Pulse or blend to make a powder. Do not blend at a stretch for a long time as the cashews will release oil and the mixture will become lumpy. Pulse small amounts of cashews in the grinder to get a fine powder.
- Sieve the cashew powder. Add back the coarse grains in a blender, grind, and sieve again. The cashew powder will be slightly grainy and not like fine flour.
- The remaining coarse grains left in the siever can be stored and used later in gravies etc. Check the recipe video for visual details.
Preparing Sugar syrup
- In a non-stick pan, add sugar and water and cook on medium heat for 5-6mins. Once the sugar melts, boil for 1 min. Lower the flame.
Making Kaju Katli mixture
- Lower the flame of the sugar syrup and add the cashew powder. Combine and cook on low flame. Stir continuously till you get a smooth lump-free mixture.
- Add ghee and combine well. Ghee gives a smooth and shiny texture to the Kaju katli.
- Keep cooking and stirring the mixture on a low flame. After 10-12 mins, the mixture will leave the sides of the pan.
Testing the mixture
- Once the mixture leaves the pan, switch off the flame and keep aside. The mixture will be of medium consistency.
- Take 1/2 tsp mixture on a plate, let it cool down a bit. Grease your fingers and make a ball out of it. You will get a non-sticky dry soft ball out of it. This means the cashew mixture is ready to set.
- If you don't get a dry non-sticky ball, this means your Kaju katli mixture is undercooked. Cook on low heat for a few mins more.
Preparing and setting Kaju katli
- Quickly, pour the mixture into a greased butter paper or steel plate. Let it cool for 2 mins.
- With the help of a spatula, fold the mixture till it slightly cools down and becomes thicker.
- As the mixture is still warm, fold the dough with the help of butter paper instead of hands. Fold the dough till it becomes smooth and forms a soft dough. Folding gives the Kaju katli a smooth creamy and mouth-melting texture. A Smooth, non-sticky and soft dough will be ready.
- Place another sheet of baking paper on top of the dough. Quickly, roll to 1/2 inch thick using a rolling pin applying equal pressure on all sides. once rolled, take out the butter paper.
- Once rolled, apply silver warq and cool completely. Cut into diamond shapes by first cutting the dough vertically and then horizontally using a sharp knife. Separate the Kaju katli.
- Store Kaju katli in an air tight container. They will be fresh at room temperature for 5-7 days.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Use premium quality unsalted big-size cashews. Ensure they are bright in colour, fresh and crunchy in taste and flavour. Avoid cashews that smell or taste stale.
- Fresh and crunchy cashews will easily grind into a fine powder.
- Use a spice or a small grinder to grind the cashews. Grind the cashews in batches.
- Pulse and grind for a short time of 25 seconds. Scrape the sides and pulse again till you get a smooth fine powder. The texture of the cashew powder will be slightly grainy and not like fine flour.
- Over grinding the cashews will release the oil and give a lumpy texture to the powder.
- Sieving the cashew powder is very important. Don't miss this step. It will make the cashew powder light, lump-free and uniform which will give a smooth texture to Kaju katlis.
- I sieved the cashew powder 2 times. I blended the remaining coarse cashew powder and sieved again.
- Use a heavy wide non-stick pan.
- Sugar syrup needs to have a boil before you put cashew powder.
- Cook the mixture on low heat and stir continuously.
- Cook the cashew mixture till it leaves the pan. It will take around 10-12 mins.
- Adding ghee to the mixture makes the mixture smooth and shiny and adds a great flavour.
- Testing the mixture before setting it - Take 1/2 tsp mixture on a plate, let it cool down a bit. Grease your fingers and make a ball out of it. You will get a non-sticky dry soft ball out of it. This means the cashew mixture is ready to set.
- Use baking paper to roll and fold the dough.
- Knead the dough by folding with baking paper as the mixture is warm and can burn your hands.
- Roll immediately after you have a smooth dough. Roll between two baking papers. It will be difficult to roll once the dough dries.
- Store Kaju katli in an air-tight container. They will be fresh at room temperature for 5-7 days.
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