Ingredients:
Cashew – 1 cup
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Ghee – just for greasing
Method:
Grind the cashew nuts into a fine powder. Keep this aside. Now in a wide bottom pan add the sugar and water just till immersing level (approx 1/4 cup) and heat it.
Let the sugar syrup boil in medium flame until it reaches the single string consistency. Add the cashew nut powder and mix. Make sure there are no lumps sugar syrup
Stir continuously in low-medium flame. In a stage the mixture will become thick like a dough and start leaving the sides of the pan (say in 4-5 mins). Wet your hands and pinch a small piece of the mixture to check if you can roll it into a non sticky ball.This is the correct stage. Switch off the flame
When it is still warm, grease your palm and knead the mixture into a smooth & soft dough. Roll the dough in a flat greased tray and cut them into your desired shapes. I used a star shaped cookie cutter and rolled the uncut pieces into small bite sized balls.
Tips:
When u grind the cashews, do it at a stretch until it is a fine powder. If u over-grind, it will become like a paste. Its ok if there are tiny bits.
Single string consistency for sugar syrup is very important, so do not miss it. You can find this by touching the sugar syrup between your thumb & index finger. Keep the flame in medium always, so that u do not miss the correct stage.
If u miss/pass the single string consistency, the dough will be crumbly.
While kneading the mixture into a dough if its dry/crumbly add a few tsps of milk to get the right consistency. Mine was just fine so did not add milk. But do not be tempted to add more milk.
Kneading the dough while it is warm is very important. Only then u will get a smooth texture.
If u add milk, refrigerate the kaju katli as shelf life will be less.
U can cut them into normal diamond shapes too. No matter what shape it just melted in the mouth 🙂
Prepared, tried and tested by: Preshana Singh