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Homemade kaju katli or kaju barfi slices - Best Indian sweet or dessert recipe.
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5 from 45 votes

Kaju Katli | Kaju Barfi - Popular Indian Dessert

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.
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, Thanksgiving to your family and friends.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Desserts, sweets
Cuisine: Indian
Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Servings: 20 big or 30 small katlis
Calories: 123kcal
Author: Kushi

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.
     

    Nutrition

    Calories: 123kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 85mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg