Kaju Sweets

Ok friends, on popular demand, here is my lil, simple and quick recipe for Kaju sweets( kaju katli/ kaju rolls/ kaju burfi/ kaju peda etc etc...) that I made today. I will be doing some experiments at my end too and will keep updating this post.
Believe me, this just tastes like the kaju katli's you buy at any sweets shop or even better as there is no adulteration in this.

Ingredients
measuring unit like a cup or a bowl

Kaju - 1 unit
Sugar - 1/2 unit
Water - 1/4 unit
Desi ghee -1 spoon for greasing surfaces if making burfi or katli

Preparation time: Hardly half hour

Preparation

1. Grind Kaju in mixie to a fine paste/powder. (Since kaju has a lot of oil internally it turns like a paste)
2. Heat water in a pan and add sugar.
3. Keep it on flame until it becomes a single thread consistency sugar syrup ( ek taar ki chaashni)
4. Remove from flame and add kaju paste stirring continuosly to make sure no lumps are formed. [This is the only laborious task in this recipe that needs some effort and quick hands :) ]
5. If making rolls then let it cool slightly till you can handle the mixture with bare hands. Make rolls or any artistic shape. 
6. If making burfis or kaju katli, then put the hot mixture in a greased plate or tray immediately, use a spatula to spread the mixture to 1/4 inch height while it is hot and smooth the surface using a flat bottom steel katori (bowl), let it cool, and cut into pieces using a knife. (Make square pieces for burfi or diamond pieces for kaju katli)
7. Decorate it with silver sheet or nuts if you want.
8. Let your rolls/burfis cool and store them in a container.
9. Eat or refridgerate 

Additional tips:

• You can take broken kajus for the purpose as they come cheaper but beware that sometimes they are bitter if not of good quality.
• You can put saffron strands(kesar) for yellow color and kesar smell in sugar syrup while preparation
• You can put cardamom powder in the mixture while putting kaju for taste enhancer.
• If making burfis you can have finely grated nuts like almonds and pistachios and sprinkle them on the greased tray before putting kaju mixture so that it forms a nice nutty texture on kaju burfis.
• You can add little milk if your mixture becomes too hard accidentally (overheating of sugar syrup) to make desired shapes. But this may reduce the life of the sweets.
• You can heat the mixture again in microwave or a pan if it cools completely and you find it difficult to give your artistic shapes.
• You can put lil edible color like red/orange/yellow/green etc to make diff colored rolls/multi colored rolls or burfis etc.

     One simple way would be -

1. Divide the sugar syrup in two parts, mix some color to one part.
2. Add half kaju mixture to each sugar syrup
3. Make a big fat roll of the colored mixture
4. Make a sheet of the non-colored mixture
5. Cover the colored roll with the sheet and then cut in circles with knife. 
6. You will get circular burfis in two colors 

Note: 

• You do not need any extra ghee in the preparation since kaju has a lot of oil in it for the preparation.
• Kaju has a long shell life and no roasting etc is required. This can stay for a long time in fridge.
• You can experiment by adding some milk powder or mawa/khoya too alongwith kaju paste. But this will again reduce the life.
• Keep the greased tray ready before mixing kaju paste in sugar syrup if making burfis.
• If you like your sweets a little too sweet, then add some more sugar to 3/4 quantity rather than 1/2. I personally found 1/2 quantity of sugar sufficiently sweet and will reduce a bit in my next preparation. 

Enjoy the un-adulterated, home made version of kaju sweets. Have a happy and safe Diwali :)