Kaju Katli (Cashew Burfi)

Kaju Katli or Cashew Burfi is the king of all the sweets (according to me and not wiki :P) It is rich, decadent, not too sweet, leaves a great after taste and is elegant to look at plus you cannot stop it at one, it is an addictive sweet! Hands down the most gorgeous looking diamond cut burfi :) Yes, in my house we call it Diamond Burfi ( thanks to my son :)).

Kaju means Cashew and Katli means a slice. It is also known as Kaju Katari or Kaju Burfi. It is one of the most expensive sweets available in the market and extensively gifted to friends and family on the occasion of festivals or family events.

Until recently I got these beauties from India, meaning whenever anyone came visiting us from there, my mother in law saw to it that she tucked a Kaju Katli box with them to give it to me (all this for her grandson). My kid loves it so much, he can finish the whole box in one sitting.  If I go to an Indian grocery store, it is mandatory for me to pick up this kaju katli box or jalebis. I am not sure why I don't make these often at home :) and why I wait to make it only on some special occasions or festivals.

Well wait, I know why :) don't laugh at the reason, it's that edible silver foil (vark) that is coated on the Kaju Katli which makes it extra special when you bring it from the store. Till now, I did not find it in the market and without the vark, burfi looks plain and bland. ( It's like an actress without makeup :)) This year I ordered it from amazon and was thrilled to make use of vark! So yup, you guessed it right! From now on, it will be home made Kaju Katli only :)

You will be surprised to know that this burfi gets done in no time, really! Simple and fantastic tasting dessert at your fingertips!

Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 drops of kewra water (or pinch of cardamom powder)
• 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Preparation: 

• In a blender ground cashews into a powder. (Sieve it if you want fine looking burfi)
• In a non-stick pan add water and sugar, bring it to a boil while stirring sugar. Cook just until sugar melts and you see bubbles forming in the syrup. Takes just about a minute. 

• Keep the gas flame on medium now, add cashew powder and start stirring the mixture. Keep doing it until the mixture leaves the non-stick pan. Will take about 4-5 minutes. (you can test it by taking a very small portion of mixture and forming a ball with your fingers, be careful as it will be hot)

• Add kewra water or cardamom powder, mix once.
• Keep a plate ready that is greased with ghee. Pour the mixture on the plate. Spread it lightly so that it cools down.
• As soon as you can handle the mixture, slather the ghee in your palms and softly knead the Katli mixture. 

• Take butter paper (wax paper) or piece of plastic and place the dough. Now cover it with another square piece of butter paper. 
• Use a rolling pin to make a squarish shaped sheet. You can keep the thickness of the Kaju Katli as per your liking. Usually, it is 1 to 1 1/2 inches. 

• With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the sheet in diamond shapes. 
• Take edible silver leaf (vark) and place it on the burfi. This is very very delicate, take it fully along with the paper and place it on the burfi. 

• Let it cool down completely. Store it in air tight container.

Notes:* You can also add saffron strands in the mixture or yellow food color to get yellow kaju katli. That looks very nice too.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefits: 

Unsaturated fats and omega fats not only reduce bad cholesterol but also lower triglycerides helping your heart to stay healthy. Our body needs nutrients from all food groups including fats. Cashew nuts naturally have a negligible amount of sodium in them, unless you eat salted cashew. They contain a fair amount of potassium that contributes in regulating blood pressure. Cashews are rich in protein. Cashews contain anacardic acids that are found to effectively kill organisms that cause tooth decay and abscesses. Of course, this dish contains sugar, but you can eat it one piece after your meals and have fun with it. Try giving it to kids which will boost their energy levels.

Badushai (Balushai) - Indian donuts

This sweet dish is rich in taste, soft in the core, crumbly at the edges, and has a melt in the mouth texture! Balushai or Badushai is nothing but a glazed donut from the east :) It has a little different texture, but gives the same feeling like a donut when you take a bite! It is not very difficult to make and traditionally this is made during festivals especially during Deepawali.

Most of us have a mind block when it comes to cooking authentic traditional dishes. I was in the same boat too. But once I started making it, it was a piece of cake. Many traditional dishes have simple recipes, it's all about timing and the technique. Once you master that, you can make anything :)

This is my Aunt's recipe, she is a great cook! I lean on her every now and then. She is on my auto dial hehe, my phone can hold maybe just 20 numbers. But my aunt's brain holds a number of recipes on her 'brain auto dial' :) Ask her anything and she will tell you with approx measurements. Her database is amazing! My mom is a master in nonveg dishes :) and I just can't get to her level...:)

I have made badushai for like about 4 to 5 times now and this recipe has not disappointed me! Comes out nice! My memory of Badushai is having it during our holidays when we went visiting my other aunt's house. My uncle used to bring it from a store and we enjoyed it so much as kids. Since I don't have a sweet tooth I didn't care so much for these sweets then :) But now when my son, hubby and everyone around me, enjoy these authentic dishes, and I take great pleasure in making it!

Try making Badushai or Balushai this Diwali or any other occasion for that matter! Let's live a little :)

Let us take a look at the Balushai recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups All purpose flour (Maida)
• 1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• few nuts crushed for garnish
• oil for cooking

For the syrup

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
•  Few cardamom seeds

Preparation:

• Take a tall utensil, warm ghee in it. Add yogurt in it and carefully and mix everything stirring quickly. The mixture will come rising up (that is why consider cooking in a tall vessel) but keep stirring.
• Further add baking soda, salt, and all-purpose flour in part of 3. Mix everything properly. It forms a dough. Switch off the gas and keep the dough aside to rest for 15 minutes. 
• In the meantime, make sugar syrup in another vessel. Add sugar, water and bring to a boil.
• Then simmer for few minutes till you get 1 thread consistency. ( basically take a drop of syrup on your index finger and then using both, your index finger and thumb pull apart the drop of syrup, when you do that you should see 1 thread(line) between your fingers)
• Add cardamom seeds to your sugar syrup.
• Now take the badushai dough and knead a little bit more. Make small balls (do not make smooth balls, it should look crumbly because that's where sugar syrup will get soaked in easily) flatten it a little bit and make a small dip in the center of the ball. 
• Deep fry it on med flame. Let it cook on all the sides. Take it out using slotted spoon and transfer it to the sugar syrup. Swirl it in syrup for few seconds and take it out. Your Badushai's are ready to be enjoyed!! Sprinkle few crushed nuts and serve!!

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

I usually add health benefits at the end of my blog post! but when it comes to sweets and desserts, there are no much benefits except it gives a great sense of pleasure to your mind and soul :) The mantra one needs to keep in mind is 'portion control'.
I would like to take this opportunity and add a pic of my aunt here, who contributes a lot by giving me her recipes! Thank you and Love you Reshma Kaki...

Microwave Doodh Pedha

Doodh Pedha is one of the most common sweets found in any sweet mart throughout India. Since it's found easily I think not many people tried making it at home. It's a lengthy process of reducing the milk to a thick consistency and the whole 9 yards. But here I will be presenting a very easy and quick method to make some yummy pedhas. You can make it in 5 minutes YES just 5 minutes as that thought of eating pedhas cross your mind :)

Going straight to the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk can 
• 2 cups dry milk powder 
• 1/2 stick butter (4tbsp) 
• few pistachios chopped for garnish 
• a few saffron (kesar) strands crushed (optional)

Preparation:

• Melt the butter in a small bowl. 
• Add condensed milk and milk powder slowly and mix everything properly. 
• Microwave the mixture for 3 minutes, stirring the mixture thoroughly after every minute. (very important step :)*)
• Let the mixture cool down a little bit, then roll into small disc-shaped pedhas and garnish with chopped pistachios. 
• You can decorate it the way you like, use your imagination. I pressed our George Washington quarter coin on top and added pistachios...you can also add crushed kesar on top.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes:* The setting may differ a little from microwave to microwave, you have to mix the pedha mixture after every single minute. When you finish that 1 minute of heating in microwave, mixture will look porous and that means you are doing it right :)