These Kaju Katli are the way they are actually meant to be - thin, smooth, melt in the mouth slices of cashew goodness. A popular Indian sweet made with cashews, sugar and water.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 14 · 14 Kaju Katli
  • Category: Desserts, Sweets
  • Cuisine: Indian, North Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup/160 grams cashews ((whole), at room temperature)
  • ½ cup/100 grams sugar
  • 5 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon ghee (or coconut oil or any neutral tasting oil, optional)
  • 1 teaspoon chopped rose petals (or 1 teaspoon rose water or 8 to 9 strands of saffron, optional)

Method

Powdering Cashews

  1. Add the cashews to a spice grinder, blender or a mixer-grinder. Use cashews that are at room temperature and not refrigerated ones.
  2. Grind the kaju to a smooth and fine powder, but make sure you don't over do the grinding process as fat should not release from the cashews.
  3. Remember to grind in short intervals. The cashews should be in powder form and not become pasty or buttery like cashew butter.
  4. If there are tiny pieces in the cashew powder, then just let them be. Or opt to sieve the cashew powder and set aside. Use a medium fine sieve and not a fine one to sift the powdered cashews.

Making Cashew Dough

  1. On a low flame heat sugar and water in a thick bottomed or non stick pan or kadai.
  2. Meanwhile grease a plate or a tray and keep aside or keep butter papers ready.
  3. When all the sugar has dissolved in the water, add the cashew powder. There is no consistency in the sugar syrup required like one string or two string. Simply let the sugar dissolve in the water and then proceed with the next step.
  4. Mix and keep on stirring the cashew mixture non-stop on a low flame.
  5. The cashew mixture would start thickening.
  6. Cook the kaju mixture for approx 7 to 9 minutes until the whole dough starts to come together.

How to make Kaju Katli

  1. Remove the whole lump of the kaju dough from the pan and place it on your work surface or in a bowl or plate.
  2. Add the rose petals and ghee or oil to the cashew mixture.
  3. When the heat in the dough is hot enough to handle, then knead the cashew mixture lightly.
  4. Flatten the dough and place it on a butter paper or on a greased plate or tray.
  5. Place a butter paper on top and then using a rolling pin, roll gently the dough from all sides till you reach a thickness of 3 to 5 mm in the dough.
  6. Remove the butter paper and let the rolled dough cool.
  7. When completely cooled, using a sharp knife cut the cashew dough giving square or diamond shapes.
  8. Gently remove the kaju barfi with a butter knife.
  9. Serve the kaju katli straight away or keep in an airtight container.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.