Thursday, February 23, 2012

Kaju Katli





While the activities, cooking, baking and photography when it comes to any cuisine make me confident and proud, this is the probably an Indian recipe which I found completely challenging! I tried making Kathlis 5 times last Diwali and flawed miserably. The first time the mistake was due to the sticky cashew powder stuck on the inner walls of the mixie jar while the second and third trial failures due to the mistake in sugar syrup consistency. The following errors were due to the overcooked dough!Whatever, my kitchen was filled with hard katlis, sticky katlis, raw katlis, and dry katlis.

I decided not to try making inedible Katlis again, though it made me desperate! I very well knew the fact that I flaw with Indian sweets and snacks, but my ego as a cook and the blogger in me totally refused to admit this which probably relaxed my tough decision.

During my last visit to Kottayam, I came across tetra packed ready made cashew powder. Why not give another try?
To be honest I wasn't confident, when I took the stepwise shots, about the final outcome.
Anyway, now you see them and Bharathy is waiting eagerly for your comments :)


  Kaju Katli
Yields 10 diamonds and bits :)

Recipe Inspiration- Lavi

  Ingredients:

*Cashew powder - 1 large cup
 Sugar - 1/2 cup
 Water - just to the immerse the sugar in the pan ( 4 tbsp)
 Ghee - 1/4 tsp (which is optional. The actual recipe doesn't call for it) +  a few drops to grease the plate.




Remember, the ratio between cashew powder and sugar is 2 : 1

Method:

How to Make Sugar Syrup for Kaju Katli?

Take half cup sugar(3 oz.) in a thick bottomed pan, and pour water till it get immersed (say 4 tbsps of water).

Keep checking every half minute..

A. Soon after the sugar water starts to boil, have a little in a spoon and touch it with your fingers. it will be very sticky to your fingers.

B. Second stage is, just drop a drop of sugar syrup on a plate, and tilt the plate, sugar syrup will start flowing.
 Therefore the required stage for Kaju Katli is just before the stage of 'Single String Consistency'.
When the syrup attains this stage, put the cashew powder to the syrup and keep stirring to avoid lumps. Break lumps if any.

Keep the flame low and keep stirring for at least 3-4 minutes.

The Dough in the Pan on Fire

When you see bubbles coming and blowing off from the cashew burfi and when you take it with a slotted spoon ( Jalli Karandi ), and tilt the spoon, the mass should start sliding vertically like a piece of paper and flow flat.

The Transfer


Switch off the flame and remove from the stove. (just takes 3 - 4 minutes in slow flame, dont exceed this time, if you are a beginner)

Transfer the dough on a ghee smeared flat plate (I used a glass half plate) and smooth the top with the spatula making sure the dough is 1/4 inch thick. I used the silicon spatula which did the job quite gracefully!

Line the dough into diamonds with a sharp knife. Cool and separate the pieces.





Note


About the Cashews

*I used cashew powder. If you do not get it, you can powder the cashews.
As Lavi says, you can use 30 large ones which would yield a cup of powder.Something very important about this is that to make sure they are dry and fresh. Refrigerated nuts tend to be moist and while to powder you may find the powder getting stuck to the sides of your mixie jar or coffee grinder. This spoils the whole later steps. Therefore the nuts and the ground powder needs to be dry!

About the Sugar Syrup Consistency

Again, as she says the string consistency for sugar syrup is very important in making Katlis. The other important fact is, when to switch off the flame. If you overcook, then you will end up in hard Katlis. so these two facts are to be learned and followed exactly.

When she says 'String Consistency'  here in the Kaju Katli, you need not wait for single string consistency at all, it should be the previous stage to single string consistency.

About the dough

Do not over cook the dough.
I added a few drops of ghee, which is optional. This made the dough glossy, smooth and manageable with no broken edges.See to it the dough is soft and loose while transferring on to the plate since it hardens while cooling.



29 comments:

  1. Beautiful post and katli Bharathy! I have never made Kaju Katli and now you are tempting me to try it soon:)

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  2. Perfect kat;is. Your try didnt go bad. Looks sooooooooo deicious

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  3. Looks perfect. Its the mess ups that lead us to the perfect recipe.

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  4. This looks perfect! I always think Indian sweets look home made on a stainless steel plate. Yum! ( get our collars up!)

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  5. These look perfect; we have not seen cashew powder here. Does it contain anything else?
    Sun-drying the cashews like other spices before powdering might help with the 'sticky' problem.

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    1. I presume it's pure cashew powder, Shri. CTC brand products are reliable. Sun-drying the nuts is a great idea! will do it next time, before I powder them!

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  6. Perfect Kaju Katlis Bharathy,I think you can rest for a while now:).I remember you and Lavi discussing the same when we met.Some day,I will try it too:))

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  7. Kandittu adipoli! I make them using milk powder, cashew powder and there's no cooking involved as such in that recipe :D

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  8. perfectly done !! looks so delicious !!

    Ongoing event CC-Dish For Loved Ones

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  9. That looks melt in the mouth good!

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  10. They look perfect like store bought ones... I'd been wanting to make it with almonds a similar recipe. But no one ever mentioned about what could go wrong with a recipe. And I assumed it's so simple n easy... But now I will b cautious when I set out to make it.

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  11. Super perfecta iruku...I wish I was there to grab that plate ;) Beautiful clicks too

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  12. Bharathy, kaju katli's are so perfect, loving the glossy perfectly cut katli's. whenever i prepare i remember you and think what would have gone wrong, i even updated the post with pictures as per guru's instructions. Happy you made it like ghajini!!

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    1. :) Still, I want to see you making it Live, Lavi!

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    2. You are welcome home bharathy, i will be happy to make for you along with you! i can also learn from you on how to get so smooth katli's.

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  13. Wow! Wow! Wow!
    What else can I say? They look so delicious and how is 10 enough anyways?
    This and Badam Halwa were my go to sweets and we used to buy a pack almost every week with some samosas... Sigh! How I miss those days :(
    This is bookmarked for the festival season... I still have no idea what string consistency means in sugar syrups :(

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    1. Same thing with me, Meera. Since I failed miserably during my earlier attempts, I had my mom just beside the stove while the sugar was boiling...she said DUMP and I dumped the cashew powder, the next micro sec.. ;) dont ever asked me about the consistency :P :D

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  14. Any leftovers Bharathy,will be there in 5 min...

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    1. Renu.. since I made it right this time, it;s all finished.. next time its def going to be a disaster ;)..there will surely be left overs ;) :D

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  15. Hi dear... This is looking perfect. U have dose a great job. Even I have failed a few time in doing this katlis. Still have to figure it out. Ready made cashew powder sounds new to me. Really want to hunt for it.YUM!

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  16. These look wonderful, Bharathy.....

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  17. Kaju katli have come out so good. Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe.

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  18. Bharathy, I roast the cashews slightly before powdering them that makes powdering a bit more easy. Not that I am expert on sweets but that seems to work for me.

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  19. wow..never thought that kaju kathli can be made with just 2 ingredients! in fact it's from here i get to know that ready-made cashew powder is available in stores!b4 i avoid making this just b'coz the difficulty in making the right cashew powder...g8 post bharathi!

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  20. This is such a detailed recipe. Thanks a lot for posting all the small small tips. I could make it right in the first attempt thanks to all the efforts you took.
    One tip on making cashew powder. As someone mentioned, sun dried cashews is a great idea, or else one can dry roast the cashews in a wok till just warm, Cool them, and grind them using the "pulse" function of the blender. The powder may be a bit granular, but better granular than to have oily powder

    Thanks a million once again

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    1. So glad to note that you got it right during ur first attempt itself, ArSh! :) shows how expertised you are! :) Yes you are absolutely right abt the powder, a granular dry powder is better than a sticky fine powder..would call it dough, rather than a powder.. :)
      Thanks a ton for the tip, girl!

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  21. Wow let me start off by saying that these are the most delicious Kaju Katli i have ever made! reminds me of eating these in India while i was there for my wedding.. My DH happens to be Indian and since I had very little knowledge of Indian food and cooking before marriage I made it a point to learn and surprise him with new dishes. Surprisingly he has loved everything I have cooked so far :) These lovely sweets happen to be his favorite, he couldn't believe that I had made them. Guess ill be making these more often! thank you :)

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