Diwali roundup- Kaju katli

I made quite a few sweets and savories this year for Diwali- Kaju Katli/Cashew burfi and coconut rava ladoo for sweets. "Mullu thenguzhal" and cornflakes mixture for savories. We thought they all turned out well :) But my favorite in the list is Kaju katli. So will start with this.

I never imagined making kaju katli at home. It is one of those special occasion sweets that I have had only in stores. Although I really LOVE kaju katli, their price always puts me off. So when I was deciding what to make for Diwali this year, I was excited when Subha showed me an easy recipe from here that she had previously tried successfully. I made some modifications and this is how I made it.

Preparation time : 30 minutes

Ingredients :

Whole cashews - 2 cups

Sugar - 1 and a quarter cups

Water - half a cup

How to make :

• Grind cashewnuts to a fine powder in a dry grinder. Keep aside.
• In a deep skilet, add sugar and 1/4th cup water.
• Boil sugar and water to 1 string consistency. What is 1 string consistency : when you take the boiled sugar syrup in a ladle and let the sugar syrup drip from the ladle, it should fall as one continuous string and not drop-by-drop. Test 2 : Take a bowl of water. Drop a drop of sugar syrup in the bowl of water. Sugar syrup should be intact and not break.
• One you have achieved one string consistency, turn stove to low.
• Now add powdered cashewnuts and stir well. Try to break clumps as you do this.
• At this point, the mixture will appear to be crumbling. Now add 1/4th cup of left-over water little by little until you form a thick paste. If you already achieved a thick paste in the previous step, you do not need to add more water to moisten it.
• In a greased plate or greased round/square baking pan, pour the paste. Tap it on the counter to let the paste spread.
• Take a rolling pin or a smooth round glass/cup and roll it on top to even the paste.
• Close it and refrigerate 1 hour to over-night.
• Cut to desired shape. I cut them diamond-shaped.

Notes :

• Ratio of whole cashewnuts to sugar is normally 2 : 1. But I find the sugar in the US to be less sweeter than the one in India. Hence, I use 2 : 1.25.
• Kaju katlis stay good at room temperature for a long time.