Finally, I am sharing a much-awaited recipe in Happy's cook. I was continuously receiving requests from few readers for this recipe during the festive season and personally, two of my friends were asking this. However, I failed twice last year when I tried this. I was very upset about the outcome and I didn't want to try it anymore. When I saw the posts of other blogger friends, I literally wanted to try this year as well. Though the procedure is very simple, my failures made me think so much and I read the recipe from many websites. I had written down all the observations and tricks before starting the preparation. I took extra care in each and every step. My efforts didn't go in vain and I got the perfect katli this time. Happy and Jany liked it very much. Let us move on to the recipe:
Ingredients:Cashew Nuts - 1 Cup
Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Water - 1/4 Cup
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - as required(for greasing)
Method:
1. For this recipe, make sure to use the cashew nuts which is not refrigerated. Grind the cashew nuts which is at room temperature to a fine powder. Grind it in a dry mixie and don't over grind it. It is better to grind in a single stretch until you were able to see the powder in the lid. If you over grind, the cashews will leave oil and the mixture will be sticky.
2. The texture of the ground powder will not be very smooth like wheat flour or maida. It will be a little coarse as shown below. Sieve the powder once to remove any leftover pieces of cashew nuts. In a pan, add the sugar and 1/4 cup water. Allow the sugar to dissolve in medium flame and bring it to boil. When the sugar solution becomes thick, check for one string consistency.(See Notes)
3. When it reaches the one string consistency, switch off the flame and add the cashew powder. Mix it all together and switch on the flame again. Keep stirring the mixture in very low flame. Add the cardamom powder and mix well. When the mixture starts thickening, dip your finger in water and try to roll a small portion between your fingers into a tiny ball. If the ball is non-sticky, then this is the correct consistency.
4. Switch off the flame and gather the mixture into a whole mass.(It will start to leave the pan). The dough should not be too dry and hence, switch off accordingly. Transfer it to a greased platform. I transferred it to a greased butter paper. When it is warm and your hands are able to bear the heat, start kneading the mixture for 3 to 5 mins. Initially, the mixture will be grainy and after kneading it will be soft.
5. Now, cover the non-sticky dough with another butter paper as shown below. Roll the dough using the roller as per your preferred thickness.
6. Remove the butter paper from the top and slice it into diamonds. [My shapes were not perfect, however no compromise in the taste].
Allow it to cool completely and transfer it to an conatiner.
- The cashew nuts used should not be refrigerated. If it is in the fridge, make sure to keep it at room temperature at least for one day.
- The mixie jar used for grinding should be very dry. It is better to use a jar which is not used in our daily cooking.
- When you start grinding, run the mixie at a stretch until you see powder in the lid(approximately 10 sec). Then scrap the sides and pulse it if required. Make sure not to over grind and make it sticky. If there are tiny bits, sieve and discard it.
- Switch off the flame when the sugar syrup reaches one string consistency. If you have a doubt with the one string consistency, then it is better to switch off and add cashew powder when the syrup reaches honey thickness. Keep in mind, the syrup should not be heated more than the one string consistency to get the perfect dough.
- To check one string consistency: When the sugar syrup thickens, take few drops of syrup on a plate. When it is warm, take a drop between your thumb and index finger and move your fingers apart slowly. A string will be formed between the fingers if the sugar syrup has reached the required consistency. Check the below image for one string consistency.
- When you were able to roll the dough between your fingers and it is non-sticky then switch off immediately. Else the mixture will become dry and it will be very difficult to knead and roll. The dough should be very flexible and hence switch it off accordingly.
- If in case the dough is dry, add a little more ghee and knead it. You can also add few drops of milk. However, the shelf life will be less and I don't prefer using milk.
- The dough will get dried quickly, so start kneading and rolling when it is warm.
- To be on safer side, it is better to do the entire process in low flame.
Happy's Cook - Divya
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