Kaju Katli or Kaju Barfi is a traditional and classic, popular Indian sweet recipe that has a smooth texture and nutty flavor made with only 3 ingredients and will literally melt in your mouth.
Check out the best Indian sweets and desserts and traditional diwali sweets recipes.
What is Kaju Katli?
Kaju Katli, meaning cashew slices or fudge, is one of the best and most popular Indian desserts made using cashews as the main ingredient along with sugar, water, and some fat (ghee, butter, or coconut oil).
Kaju katli is also called Kaju burfi, barfi, katri in Hindi, and No-Bake cashew fudge in English. Katli means thin slices, unlike barfi, which is thick.
One of the best Indian desserts or sweets to gift in the form of a mithai box during special occasions or festivals like Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Christmas, Eid, and Thanksgiving to your family and friends.
Homemade Halwai Style Kaju Katli
Kaju Katli made at home from scratch, is much better than the ones you get from the store. You know what ingredients you are adding, plus the dessert is free from preservatives, and to top it off, you'll have a proud feeling and satisfaction that you made it.
Having said that, if you ask me how easy or tough it is to make barfi at home, I would say it depends on your cooking and judgment (andaaza) skills.
I always wanted to make the best kaju barfis at home better than any sweet shop because it's my family's favorite sweet. So I have tried different ways this last year whenever possible and when I had cashews in my pantry. I would not say the recipes that I followed were failures, but I did not get the result that I was looking for. After trying it many times, this recipe is what I stick to now. If you read my instructions properly and follow them you will be successful in the first attempt to make Kaju barfis or katlis. I promise!
If you love cashew recipes, don't miss out on checking out popular mangalorean cashew macaroons, roasted masala kaju 3 ways.
Ingredients
You need simple and basic ingredients from your kitchen to make this kaju katli or barfi.
Cashews: Cut into halves. Use good quality cashew nuts for best results.
Sugar: Sweetener used to make this sweet.
Ghee or Butter: Fat for greasing (use coconut oil for the vegan version)
How to make the best Kaju Katli or Kaju Burfi?
Blend the cashews to form cashew powder
- Pulse or blend the cashews in batches in a mixie or blender to powder form (this texture will be grainy, not fine or smooth). Blend in intervals. Do not blend long as cashews will start to release oil. Make sure the mixture doesn't get hot or warm during the process.
- I generally get nice powder by following these steps from above. But if you are in doubt, sieve the cashew powder. If you find any coarse grains, add them to the blender and blend them again.
Prepare sugar syrup (Chasni)
- In a pan, add sugar and water. Do not pour more water than mentioned in the recipe. This may unnecessarily extend your time in cooking barfis, and the texture will also vary.
- On medium heat, stir this mixture and dissolve the sugar. Bring this to a rapid boil. (Note - at this point, you can add cashew powder)
- I highly recommend boiling sugar syrup to 1 1-string consistency. This will give excellent results, plus your burfi will turn out perfect.
Making of the kaju katli or Kaju barfi
- Add the cashew powder prepared in two batches on low flame to the sugar syrup and keep mixing it so that there are no lumps.
- Now, keep stirring on low to medium flame until the mixture starts to thicken.
- At this point, add 2 tablespoon of ghee or butter and continue to stir the mixture.
- As the mixture thickens, ghee starts leaving the sides of the pan. If you are not able to see that, add another extra 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter.
- Within minutes the mixture will come together, leaving the side of the pan. It took around 8 minutes to reach this stage from the time I added cashew powder. The time may vary for you depending on the flame, the thickness of the pan, the amount of water you have added, etc.
How do I know if the mixture is ready to make barfis?
- Once you feel the mixture is done, keep the pan aside. Take a small piece of the mixture and let it cool. Grease your fingers and try making a ball from this mixture. If you get a non-sticky dry ball, it means the mixture is ready.
- If you are not able to form a ball, i.e., if it is sticky, that means the mixture is undercooked. Cook it for some more time.
Kneading the dough and setting the kaju barfi
- Transfer the mixture to a greased plate, butter paper, or greased parchment paper.
- When the mixture cools down slightly, i.e., after 2 or 3 minutes, grease your hands and knead it. ( If you cannot handle the hot mixture, then grease another parchment paper, put it on top of the barfi mixture, and knead it)
- Within 3 to 4 mins, the mixture will become smooth and start to look dry. This means you are ready to set the barfis. Don't over knead as this will release fat from cashews.
- Now cover the kneaded mixture with parchment paper or butter paper and gently roll it using a rolling pin to a rectangle or oval shape of around ¼ inch thickness.
- I have added edible silver foil or vark to make it look pretty and festive. This is completely optional. It will not add any taste or flavor.
- Cool completely and cut them into diamond shapes, squares, or rectangles. To obtain diamond-shaped katlis - first cut them diagonally, spacing 2 inches between each line. Then cut straight spacing of two inches depending on the size desired between each line.
Pro Tips to Avoid Mistakes
- Do not overcook the mixture, as it will make your barfi or katli dry.
- Kneading is a very important step as it will make your barfis smooth and melt-in-mouth.
- While grinding cashews, make sure you do it in batches and pulse in intervals. Over-blending will release oil from cashews and will also spoil the texture of your katlis.
- Cashew powder will be grainy, not smooth like flour. You can also sieve with a medium-fine sieve if needed.
- If you love halwai style kaju katli then cook sugar syrup till it reaches 1 string consistency. Else, cook till the sugar mixture comes to a rapid boil, and then add the cashew powder. I prefer the former (1 string consistency) method.
- For one string consistency, dip a wooden spoon in the syrup and lift it out. Allow a few seconds to cool. Now, touch the syrup with your forefinger and thumb together and pull them apart gently. You should see one unbroken string. If not, cook until you reach one-string consistency.
- I would say do not add any flavoring like cardamom, rose, or saffron. Let the barfi have the nutty flavor from cashews and only cashews. You will love it. Trust me!
Recipe FAQs
Use unsalted premium quality, room temperature cashews for the recipe. If you are using old cashews that have been opened for a long time or one from your freezer - make sure you dry roast just to remove moisture content and reduce the rancid smell/taste. Do not roast more than needed. This will change the color of the barfi.
If cashews released oil because you blended it longer than needed, add some milk powder while cooking the cashew paste, and you will get the right texture.
You can store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days or in the refrigerator for one month.
If you add any more water than mentioned in the recipe, you may have to cook the mixture for a longer time. This will alter the taste and also make your barfi chewy.
Kaju katli will be sticky if the sugar syrup has not reached the right consistency or the mixture has been removed from the pan too early. In both cases, cook for some more time till you are able to make a non-sticky dry ball from the mixture.
In this case, add the entire mixture back to the pan, splash some water and ghee, and cook for a few more minutes, and this should work.
More Popular Barfi Sweet Recipes
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Recipe card
Kaju Katli | Kaju Barfi - Popular Indian Dessert
Equipment
- 1 Pan for cooking
- 1 Mixie Jar or Blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups Plain, unsalted Cashews, cut into halves
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Water
- 2 tablespoon Ghee or Butter, additional for greasing (use coconut oil for vegan version)
Instructions
How to make the best Kaju Katli?
Blend the cashews to form cashew powder
- Pulse or blend the cashews in batches in mixie or blender to powder form (this texture will be grainy, not fine or smooth). Blend in intervals. Do not blend long as cashews will start to release oil. Make sure the mixture doesn’t get hot or warm during the process.2 cups Plain, unsalted Cashews, cut into halves
- I generally get nice powder by following these steps from above. But if you are in doubt, sieve the cashew powder. If you find any coarse grains, add them to the blender and blend them again.
Prepare sugar syrup
- In a pan add sugar and water. Do not pour more water than mentioned in the recipe. This may unnecessarily extend your time in cooking barfis and the texture will also vary.1 cup Sugar, ½ cup Water
- On medium heat, stir this mixture and dissolve the sugar. bring this to a rapid boil. (Note – at this point you can actually add cashew powder)
- I highly recommend boiling sugar syrup to 1 string consistency. See tips below. This will give excellent results plus your burfi will turn out perfect.
How to make the best kaju katli?
- Add the cashew powder prepared in two batches on low flame to the sugar syrup and keep mixing it so that there are no lumps.
- Now keep stirring on low to medium flame until the mixture starts to thicken.
- At this point add 2 tablespoon of ghee or butter and continue to stir the mixture.2 tablespoon Ghee or Butter,
- As the mixture thickens, ghee starts leaving the sides of the pan. If you are not able to see that add another extra 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter.
- Within minutes the mixture will come together leaving the side of the pan. It took around 8 minutes to reach this stage from the time I added cashew powder. The time may vary for you depending on the flame, the thickness of the pan, the amount of water you have added, etc.
How do I know if the mixture is ready to make barfi?
- Once you feel the mixture is done, keep the pan aside. Take a small piece of the mixture and let it cool. Grease your fingers and try making a ball from this mixture. If you get a non-sticky dry ball, it means the mixture is ready.
- If you are not able to form a ball, i.e., if it is sticky that means the mixture is undercooked. Cook it for some more time.
Kneading the dough and setting barfi
- Transfer the mixture to a greased plate, butter paper, or greased parchment paper.
- When the mixture cools down slightly, i.e., after 2 or 3 minutes grease your hands and knead it. ( If you cannot handle the hot mixture, then grease another parchment paper, put it on top of barfi mixture, and knead it)
- Within 3 to 4 minutes the mixture will become smooth and start to look dry. This means you are ready to set the barfis. Don’t over knead as this will release fat from cashews.
- Now cover the kneaded mixture with parchment paper or butter paper and gently roll it using a rolling pin to a rectangle or oval shape of around ¼ inch thickness.
- I have added edible silver foil or vark to make it look pretty and festive. This is completely optional. It will not add any taste or flavor.
- Cool completely and cut them into diamond shapes, squares, or rectangles. To obtain diamond-shaped katlis – first cut them diagonally spacing 2 inches between each line. Then cut straight spacing two inches depending on the size desired between each line.
Notes
- Do not overcook the mixture, as it will make your barfi or katli dry.
- Kneading is a very important step as it will make your barfis smooth and melt-in-mouth.
- While grinding cashews, make sure you do it in batches and pulse in intervals. Over-blending will release oil from cashews and will also spoil the texture of your katlis.
- Cashew powder will be grainy, not smooth like flour. You can also sieve with a medium-fine sieve if needed.
- If you love halwai style kaju katli then cook sugar syrup till it reaches 1 string consistency. Else, cook till the sugar mixture comes to a rapid boil, and then add the cashew powder. I prefer the former (1 string consistency) method.
- For one string consistency, dip a wooden spoon in the syrup and lift it out. Allow a few seconds to cool. Now, touch the syrup with your forefinger and thumb together and pull them apart gently. You should see one unbroken string. If not, cook until you reach one-string consistency.
- I would say do not add any flavoring like cardamom, rose, or saffron. Let the barfi have the nutty flavor from cashews and only cashews. You will love it. Trust me!
- I have answered frequently asked questions on this post above. Read it to know more.
Ann
I have never heard of this before. The presentation is so pretty! Thanks for sharing! I love adding new ideas to my recipe book.
Mahin
Can walnuts be used instead of cashew nuts
Kushi
I have tried almonds but not with walnuts. If you want to try it with walnuts, roast them before blending them into powder. The taste and texture will vary accordingly.
koibeatu
sounds yummy!