Kaju Katli Recipe | How to make Kaju Katli

Updated on May 29, 2026 by Raks Anand 189 Comments

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Kaju Katli is one of the most loved Indian sweets made during Diwali and festive celebrations. An easy, beginner friendly melt in mouth sweet, it uses only 3 ingredients - cashew nuts, sugar and a little ghee. Yet gives that rich, sweet shop style taste and texture. Homemade Kaju katli is absolutely possible even for beginners once you try.

You can make Kaju katli for festivals like Diwali as well as special occasions like Raksha bandhan.

Check out my Kaju strawberry recipe and Besan ladoo recipe in this website.

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About Kaju Katli
Kaju Katli Ingredients
Stepwise photos
My notes
Top tips
Substitutions & Variations
Troubleshooting
Shelf life
FAQs
Recipe card

About Kaju Katli

Kaju Katli, also known as Kaju Barfi, is a classic Indian sweet widely prepared during Diwali, weddings and other festive occasions. The word Katli means 'thin slice', describing the diamond shaped pieces it is cut into. While every home has its version, the most authentic ones are made with cashew, sugar and ghee, without milk, or condensed milk, to ensure longer shelf life.

For the longest time, Kaju katli felt tricky to me. I tried it a few times earlier and either the cashew mixture became sticky or the texture turned grainy. Then I understood three important things:

Never grind cold cashews from the fridge
Kneading the warm dough helps with the smooth finish
Get the syrup consistency right

I referred blogger friend's blog this time, here.

It tasted exactly like we get from sweet shops in India and loved it!

Kaju Katli Ingredients

Here are the few ingredients needed to make Kaju Katli.

Cashew nuts - Use good quality, fresh cashews in room temperature for smooth texture.
Sugar - White sugar is used to make this sweet.
Ghee - Just a little for greasing
Milk - Optional, for the mixture in case turns dry

Check out my recipe card below for quantities.

Stepwise photos

1. To begin with, powder 1 cup cashew nuts (room temperature, not from fridge) in a dry mixer. You have to be careful here, just grind it in a stretch, don't stop in between and grind.

2. Will be sure able to see the powder in the transparent lid, so keep grinding until you get fine powder.

3. This will not take much time, so do not over grind the mixture as it may turn to a lump.

4. I got more than a cup of cashew powder, but I used 1 cup, heaped (like a mountain) kaju powder. There was some 2 tablespoons left for me.

Making sugar syrup

1. Take ½ cup sugar with ¼ cup of water in a pan and keep stirring in gentle heat. Keep little water in a small bowl and just pour few drops in the water to check the consistency.

2. If you pour few drops, it should lay a fine thread that doesn't gets dissolved in water immediately when you touch.
Or you can also check between your fingers to see if it forms a string that does not break. Do it in low to medium flame when it nears the stage.

3. Lower the flame completely. Add the ground cashews to the sugar syrup. Keep stirring continuously for 3 to 4 mins until the mixture thickens and leaves the sides of the pan.

4. Switch off the flame. Grease your fingers lightly and test a tiny portion. You should be able to roll it into a soft non-sticky ball between your forefinger and thumb.

Make Kaju Katli

5. Continue mixing for a minute in the pan's heat itself.

6. Transfer the warm mixture to a greased tray or sheet of parchment paper.

7. Once warm enough to handle, start kneading gently.

Initially the dough may look grainy. But after kneading, it slowly turns smooth.

4. Mine was a bit dry, so I sprinkled some milk and kept kneading.

5. I used gloves for kneading, so if you want you can use little ghee while kneading.

6. Finally, roll the dough using rolling pin, into thin layer and using a sharp knife, cut it diagonally to make pieces. You can first draw lines lightly with the knife tip and then cut into diamond shapes to get perfect pieces.

Allow the kaju katli to cool completely before removing the pieces.

Your kaju katli is ready now to enjoy! Just melts in our mouth!! My kid call this 'Diamond sweet'.

Kaju Katli recipe | Indian Diwali sweets

My notes

When I ground 1 cup of cashews, I got more than a cup of cashew powder, but I used 1 cup, heaped (like a mountain) cashew powder. There was some 2 tablespoon left for me. So took 1 cup heaped for this kaju katli recipe.
Also never grind the cashew which is cold, taken from the fridge, grind it when it is in room temperature.
I used milk only as my mixture was dry while kneading. If it's fine then no need to add milk while kneading.
Adding milk will reduce shelf life, but this would not honestly last until then, it is so addictive and gets over soon.
If you watch my short video (link above Recipe card) I have used a silicon spatula for kneading when the mixture is hot. This is very useful.
Some people add silver vark for these to give a festive look, but please note they are not vegetarian friendly.

Top tips

While powdering, as you grind, the powder sticks together towards the end and gives a coarse looking powder. But it's small lumps because of the powder sticking together.
If you are making more quantity, I suggest to grind in batches.I always make in small-batch like 1 cup at a time.
If you add milk while kneading, shelf life is less, so keep refrigerated.
Use less water to make sugar syrup to get the consistency quickly.
While making sugar syrup, keep the flame in medium to low, so that the stage does not pass fast. Especially if you are nearing the consistency.
If you add cashew powder before the sugar syrup reaches the consistency, then the dough will be sticky. So the sugar syrup consistency is important.

Substitutions & Variations

This is naturally gluten-free, if you want to make it vegan, avoid ghee and use neutral oil. Instead of milk, use warm water.

You can add ⅛ teaspoon of cardamom powder or rose water for flavor.

It is easy to shape these to any, so get creative and make something like a Kaju Apple or strawberry.

Add a tablespoon of saffron infused milk for beautiful hue and flavor.

You can make Chocolate flavour, by adding a spoon of cocoa powder.

Troubleshooting

If your mixture is dry, sprinkle a teaspoon of milk to soften it and smoothen it. This is a fix for slight dryness.

If the mixture is sticky or wet to handle, you can sprinkle a tablespoon of unsweetened milk powder. You can also use gloves or ghee to handle -less sticky mixture.

Shelf life

Stays good for 5 to 7 days in room temperature. It can stay good upto two weeks in refrigerator.

If you add milk, consume within 3 days best. Store in an airtight container once completely cooled.

FAQs

What is the secret to smooth Kaju katli?

Kneading the kaju katli dough gives smoothest finish. Make sure to powder kaju finely.

Why my Kaju mixture turned grainy?

While making sugar syrup, use enough water. Do not use less water as sugar syrup passes stages fast too. Always make syrup in medium heat to low heat. Patience is the key for perfect results.

When syrup doesn't reach consistency, the mixture would not become non-sticky. So to get the consistency, you may end up over cooking it and it can change the colour, texture.

Check out my short video of Kaju Katli in Tamil.

Recipe card

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5 from 1 vote