Kaju barfi
Kaju katli's richer sibling — a touch of khoya or milk powder makes it denser and fudgier, set thicker and cut into squares. Same cashew-flour base, same grade economics: the pros use scorched wholes.
Ingredients
Makes ~20 pieces
- •1 cup (150 g) cashew flour (SW grade ideal)
- •1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
- •1/4 cup water
- •2 tbsp milk powder or khoya (for the barfi richness)
- •1 tbsp ghee
- •1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- •Optional: chopped pistachios, saffron, vark
Method
- 1 Cashew flour. Grind cashews to a fine, sieved powder — pulse to avoid oil release.
- 2 Syrup. Boil sugar and water to one-string consistency.
- 3 Cook. Add cashew flour, milk powder/khoya, ghee and cardamom. Stir 7-9 minutes to a soft dough — richer and slightly thicker than katli.
- 4 Set. Spread in a greased tray about 8-10 mm thick (thicker than katli). Garnish with pistachios/saffron.
- 5 Cut. Rest 1 hour, cut into squares or diamonds.
Kaju barfi vs kaju katli
- Katli: thin (4-5mm), pure cashew + sugar, silky, diamond-cut, silver leaf.
- Barfi: thicker (8-10mm), enriched with khoya/milk powder, denser and fudgier, square-cut, often garnished.
Which cashews?
As with katli, use SW scorched wholes — ground to flour, so the discount grade performs identically at ~30% lower cost. See Palasa, India's sweet-cashew processing hub. Running a mithai business? Request SW bulk pricing.