I'm not quite fond of sweets-the sweet tooth in me is tamed . There are just 4 sweets I really relish-Gulab Jamoons, Imarti, Boondi/motichoor ladoos, and Kaaju Katli 🤤
Kaaju Katli is a cashew fudge recipe made of cashew and sugar. They are cut into thin slices , hence called Katli which translates to thin slices. They are also sometimes served rolled with pistachios for the filling. The recipe for both is almost the same except for the filling.
Today, I set out to try my hands at it . This would be my second attempt. The first time I had tried was some six years ago. It had come out really great in terms of taste but didn't have that pro look 😅. (I shall share those failed pictures at the end. )So, Obviously this time I wanted to get it perfect.
But right from the time I set out, I had this bad hunch that it won't turn out well. I had even planned to do it with half the ingredients but decided go ahead and take that risk. And things really weren't any smooth .This attempt did turn out to be an adventure. Nevertheless it was worth the efforts as the taste tests had all giving it a huge thumbs up.
I shall share with you the day's adventure and how I coped up with the unexpected. So, be ready for some rambling today. I shall change the font colour whenever I tend to get on to a narrative on any part of the misadventure so that you may skip if you aren't interested. 😁
It is basically quite an easy and simple recipe if you get it right. If you fumble at some stage, then you need to either give it up or fix it up and that takes your time, patience and presence of mind. Don't worry, I'm going to put down all those hacks for you here...from what I gathered today.
Preparation Time : 25 mins
Cooking Time : 10 mins
Course : Dessert
Makes : 35-42 slices
Time mentioned is only for Katli. Additional 20 minutes if you make rolls along.
I'm sharing the basic Kaju Katli recipe here and also cashew rolls. Any additional ingredients added for rolls are mentioned along with the instructions. The Ingredients mentioned here are for Kaaju Katli only.
Ingredients:
Cashews : 200 gms (1 1/2 cups)
Sugar : 5-6 tbsp
Water : 1/3 cup
Rose water : 1 tsp
Ghee : 4 tsp
Milk Powder : 3 tsp(optional)
Cardamom pwd : 1/8 tsp optional
Blend the cashews in a blender or dry mixer jar. Make a fine powder and sieve .(You may blend and use without sieving but if you sieve , they turn out better as it enhances the texture. Use cashews at room temperature, ensure there is no moisture in them. When you blend do not continuously work the blender/mixer. That might result in the cashews releasing its oil due to the speed of blending and heat from the motor working continuously .The cashews will then become a paste instead of fine powder. This is the first thing you take care when you start the recipe.
Sieve and collect the finer powder .The coarse residue may be kept aside to blend again together after you are done powdering all the batches of cashews.
Collect all the powder.
At the end of all the blending you might still have some coarse material left. Do not discard that. You may use it to make cashew paste for your recipes . I have used it in this recipe itself as filling for my kaju rolls.
So, coming to my intuitions and adventures/misadventures of the day. The first unexpected problem I had to face was from my mixer jar. As I completed one batch of powdering, my dry mixer jar gave up. I wasted quite some time trying to fix it up. Thought of just keeping the powder aside along with the rest of the cashews and postpone making the sweet for the present. But, I didn't. I had started on it and I had to finish it by hook or by crook. I used the wet jar to powder the rest of the cashews and the remaining coarse powder. Fortunately, it worked. 😍As a result, in the end, I had about 1/2 cup coarsely ground cashews and the rest a fine powder as the recipe requires. You may have only around 2 tbsps or so .
Getting back to the recipe.
In a nonstick pan, add water and sugar. I like desserts moderately sweet. If you like it sweeter you, may increase the quantity of sugar. I wanted to use brown sugar . But didn't want to experiment with syrup on this recipe. I doubted that it might affect the colour and I was keen on getting it in its authentic form this time; didn't want to compromise on the look. Now that I have got the recipe right, I shall try when I do it the next time and turn it healthier with brown sugar.
Bring it to a boil stirring it with a wooden ladle and try to get a one string consistency. That is the perfect time to add the powdered cashews. If you aren't comfortable doing that, just wait for all the sugar to melt and when you find the syrup boiling, add the cashews. I did it all right and still had a misadventure as my attention shifted to the stuffing for the rolls which I was simultaneously making.
So, when you are making, if you happen boil the syrup beyond single string , add a little water, a teaspoon or two and then you will have fixed the issue. I did that too. It in no way affected the taste.
Bring down the flame to medium-low and add the powdered cashews, preferably in 2 batches instead of putting all at a time, helps you mix better.
Mix it with the syrup and keep stirring continuously and get a smooth paste without lumps.
If you let it cook by itself, you will have it cooked unevenly and also it gets stuck to the pan. So, you need to keep stirring continuously.
You will keep stirring till you get a thicker consistency.
When it starts getting thick, add 2 spoons of ghee .
Mix and keep stirring.
Add edible rosewater. This is for flavouring. You may add cardamom powder too. If you want to add that instead . Just add around 1/8 tsp .
Keep stirring again till it thickens further.
...and starts leaving the sides of the pan. If you feel something went wrong and it's still sticking to the pan even after a long time,drizzle a little ghee and you will have it fixed. It wouldn't normally if you have been doing it right, from the beginning.
At this stage. it is ready to be taken off the flame. But you would want to confirm before you decide if it has reached the right consistency. Just take a little paste in a spoon, let it cool and try making a tiny ball of it. If you can do that without sticking to your fingers, then the paste is ready. If not, keep cooking for some more time and check. Your paste will have this fudgy texture and not a dry one.
Remove it on a greased surface.
Keep kneading with a spoon to bring down the temperature to warm and bring the fudge together. It will be too hot for you to knead with your hands. Wait just enough for it to cool so that you may work with your hands. The katlis have to be made when your cashew fudge is warm.
Grease an aluminium foil/parchment paper or a work top.
Grease your palm. Knead the dough well with gentle hands for around 3 minutes and make a smooth ball. Place it on the greased surface.
In case, just in case, the dough cools down totally and it cracks when you try to knead, you can't make katlis of it😢. No, you can't eat it like a crumbled biscuit either🤐. But you can definitely fix that problem too.🤩 It generally doesn't happen, if you are working only on the recipe and your attention isn't diverted. If by any chance, the dough hardens, place back the pan, heat it, spoon in a little ghee, crumble your hardened dough and add a spoon of hot water. Now mix it up and keep stirring. It will loosen. Take it off the flame and bring it together , use a spoon or 2 of milk powder to make it softer. And you have saved your recipe.
Place another greased foil over it.
Roll it gently using a rolling pin trying to flatten it evenly from all sides.
Roll it out to 1/2 or 1/4 inch thickness depending on how you would like them.
Cut off the edges and using a sharp knife cut vertically at equal distance.
Now, cut diagonally with a slant to get the diamond cuts.
Why not any other shape? No one has ever seen a Kaaju Katli in any other shape. And remember the mission was to get an authentic one? 😄
And finally I got it right this time both in flavour and texture as well as the look.
Traditionally, the katli is decorated with edible silver foil and served . I didn't have any at home. You may use them if you have once you have cut into diamonds or serve as such.
Once cooled, you may store them in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 5 days or more.
Kaaju Rolls:
Kaaju Rolls are cylindrical cashew layers with a filling of sweetened pistachios. Here I'm using the coarse cashew left over after powdering for the katlis as filling.The whole pictorial isn't available as I stopped clicking when my hands got messier. I might do it again soon and try to click all the steps as the recipe is quite in demand .
In a small pan, make syrup, heating 1 tbsp water and 1 tsp sugar. Increase the sugar qty if you prefer your sweets sweeter.
For the pista colour, I have used edible apple green food colour. I didn't have home made food colour. So I'm using the one readiy available in the market. You may use homemade natural colours. Combine the colour with the syrup.
Add the coarsely ground cashew remnants.
Bring it together.
Add in 1/2 tsp ghee and 1/8 spoon rosewater.(or a pinch of cardamom). Keep mixing till it thickens and take off the flame.
Follow the process like katlis of greasing the surface, greasing your palms and making a smooth dough and rolling it. I have used a portion from the dough made for katlis.
I will try and write in detail as the pictorial is missing. Flatten it with a rolling pin as instructed before. You have a circle of 1/4 inch thickness now. Cut it into half. You will now have 2 semicircles of the dough.
Also mix and knead the coarse cashew paste- the filling.You needn't roll it out like the cashew dough. With your hands roll it in to get a cylindrical shape. Roll it evenly and smoothly beyond what you see in the picture.
Place it 1 inch away inside from the diameter of the circle ( the part where you have cut the dough) . Do not place it at the edge of the diametre or the filling will flow out of the roll.
Roll it gently with the the green filling in the centre and the beige layering outside. It would look exactly like kaaju rolls. Just that you won't have the pista flavour when you bite it.
You may try a lot of variations with the rolls. You may combine and make a green and beige roll, place them together and roll them gently and have double coloured rolls.
You may also mix a little green dough into beige dough and have a marble texture. Or you may have green rolls as such.
You may add milk powder for binding . It also enhances the taste.
Roll it into long, shot, slim or fat rolls. Play along and enjoy the art called food.
Ah, Yes! I had told you all that I would attach pictures of my first attempt at making katlis. Here they are. Look at their shape! 😅 They just went a little too fudgy. But like I said, they tasted heavenly. Then I didn't have the presence of mind to add milk powder add fix it.Now you know how you can save this recipe if at all you get caught in a tight spot with the ingredients.
Comments