Kaju Katli

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1. 1Step 1: Pulse or blend the cashews in batches in a mixie or blender to a powder form; the 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. 2Step 2: If in doubt, sieve the cashew powder. If you find any coarse grains, add them to the blender and blend them again.
3. 3Step 3: 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.
4. 4Step 4: 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.)
5. 5Step 5: Boil the sugar syrup to 1 string consistency. This will give excellent results and your burfi will turn out perfect.
6. 6Step 6: 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.
7. 7Step 7: Keep stirring on low to medium flame until the mixture starts to thicken.
8. 8Step 8: At this point, add 2 tbsp of ghee or butter and continue to stir the mixture.
9. 9Step 9: As the mixture thickens, ghee starts leaving the sides of the pan. If you are not able to see that, add another extra 1 tbsp of ghee or butter.
10. 10Step 10: 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 depending on the flame, the thickness of the pan, the amount of water added, etc.
11. 11Step 11: 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.
12. 12Step 12: 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.
13. 13Step 13: Transfer the mixture to a greased plate, butter paper, or greased parchment paper.
14. 14Step 14: 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.)
15. 15Step 15: 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.
16. 16Step 16: 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 1/4 inch thickness.
17. 17Step 17: Add edible silver foil or vark to make it look pretty and festive. This is completely optional. It will not add any taste or flavor.
18. 18Step 18: 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.