Kaju Katli for Diwali: Cashew Diamonds With a One-Thread Syrup, Made at Home as Shop Prices Climb

Kaju katli is the sweet that decides whether a box of mithai looks serious. Thin diamonds of pale cashew fudge, often with a leaf of edible silver on top, it sits at the centre of Diwali gifting, and this year it is costing more than usual. The Free Press Journal reported on 26 October that in Indore kaju katli had risen from about 900 rupees a kilo to between 1,100 and 1,200, with traders blaming dearer milk, sugar, dry fruit, ghee, fuel and packaging.

The good news is that it is among the easiest mithai to make, because it has almost nothing in it. It is cashews, sugar and a little ghee, as Wikipedia's entry on the sweet summarises, with cardamom or saffron optional and edible silver as decoration. The skill is all in the sugar. The syrup is boiled to a single thread, the point where a drop pinched between two fingers stretches into one strand, and the cashew powder is stirred in until the mixture leaves the side of the pan. SBS's version of the recipe follows the same sequence of grinding, syrup, cooking, kneading while warm and cutting into diamonds.

Fusion versions are also circulating this Diwali. Slurrp published a dark chocolate kaju katli on 4 November, layering a cocoa dough over the plain one. That version is in the tips below.

Ingredients

Makes about 20 pieces. Total time about 1 hour, including cooling, with 35 minutes of work.

• 250 g raw whole cashews, unsalted
• 125 g caster sugar
• 70 ml water
• 1 tsp ghee, plus a little extra for greasing
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• Edible silver leaf, optional

Method

1. Tip the cashews into a dry food processor and grind in short pulses of a few seconds, stopping to shake the bowl, until you have a fine flour. Do not run it continuously or the nuts turn oily and pasty. Sift and re-grind any coarse bits.
2. Grease a sheet of baking parchment lightly with ghee and have a second sheet and a rolling pin ready.
3. Put the sugar and water in a wide non-stick pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves, then let it boil for 4 to 5 minutes without stirring until it reaches a one-thread consistency. Test a drop between thumb and forefinger once it has cooled for a few seconds.
4. Lower the heat to the minimum and tip in the cashew flour and cardamom all at once. Stir briskly and constantly.
5. Keep cooking and stirring for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture thickens into a soft dough that pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan and moves as one mass. Stir in the ghee and turn off the heat.
6. Tip the dough onto the greased parchment and let it cool for 5 minutes, until you can handle it. Knead it for a minute or two while still warm until it is smooth and crack-free.
7. Cover with the second sheet and roll to an even thickness of about 5 mm. Remove the top sheet and let the slab cool and firm up for 20 to 30 minutes.
8. Lay silver leaf over the surface if using, pressing gently. Cut into diamonds with a sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts.

Tips, variations and storage

If the dough is sticky and will not roll, return it to the pan on low heat for a minute. If it is dry and cracks, knead in half a teaspoon of warm ghee. The sugar syrup is the thing to get right, so if you are unsure, take the pan off the heat while you test.

For the chocolate version, divide the warm dough in two after step 5 and knead about 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder into one half, then roll the two together in layers. Keep the pieces in an airtight tin in a cool place for about a week, and use a clean dry knife every time you take one out.

Diwali falls on Sunday 8 November, which gives you a weekend to make a tin of these, put them in a box and, with the price of the shop version this year, feel quite pleased with the saving.