KAJU LADOO WITH CRANBERRY AND PISTACHIO
It has been a while I had melt in mouth Kaju ladoo, and with Diwali being in a couple of days I decided to make them at home. If you too are Kaju sweet lover, this recipe is no less than a PURE BLISS !!!
Kaju ladoo is a classic, glittery, Indian festive sweet made with powdered kaju( cashew ), sugar, milk powder, ghee and laden with rose and cardamom flavor. This cashew fudge is jammed with a nutty and fruity mixture of pistachio and cranberry. Garnished with edible silver leaves, saffron, and pistachio makes it outstandingly awesome and stunningly perfect for Diwali.
This Kaju ladoo is perfect for all the nut lovers to satisfy their sweet tooth on Diwali. It makes a great gift for friends and relatives on various occasions like weddings, parties, and festivals. Personally, I am a huge fan of Kaju sweets and I must have it on Diwali.
And have I told you that this Kaju ladoo not only looks awesome but also tastes amazing is so so so easy to make it at home. It just requires 3-4 essential ingredients and some flavoring agents.
First, you have to make a smooth dough with cashew powder, sugar, ghee, and water. The dough is flavored with rose water and cardamom powder.
Next, get ready with the mixture of unsalted silvered pistachio and finely chopped cranberry.
Finally, stuff the cashew confection with the nutty and fruity mixture and garnish with edible silver leaves, saffron, and pistachio. And you are ready to celebrate Diwali with these sweet and pretty looking, glittering Kaju ladoos.
Cuisine : Indian
Course : Dessert
Prep time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 15 minutes
Servings : 9 in no.
Ingredients
For cashew confection
1 Cup cashew powder
1/3 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup water
2 Tbsp rose water
1 Tsp cardamom powder
3 Tbsp ghee
For stuffing
1Tbsp finely chopped dried cranberry
1 Tbsp silvered unsalted pistachio
For garnishing
Edible silver leaves
Saffron soaked in water
Silvered unsalted pistachio
Instructions
Soak few saffron strands in water and keep aside.
For stuffing, in a small bowl mix silvered pistachio and chopped cranberry and keep it aside.
In a bowl transfer, cashew powder and milk powder.
Mix thoroughly and keep aside.
5. Transfer the cashew to the grinder/chopper. Make sure the cashew is at room temperature ( see the NOTES below )
6. Grind the cashew to a fine flour-like texture. Add only 1/4 cup of cashew at a time in the chopper or grinder.
7. Pulse to get a fine powder and pass through a sieve.
8. Keep aside the cashew powder to use it later.
9. Combine sugar and water in a pan.
10. Add rose water to it.
11. Also, add cardamom powder to it.
12. Bring the mixture to a boil.
13. Once the sugar syrup reached one string consistency, lower the flame to the minimum possible ( see the NOTES below )
14. Add Cashew powder and ghee to it.
15. Stir continuously till it collects together to form a soft dough.
16. Transfer the dough to a greased surface and wait for 5 minutes for the dough to cool down a little.
17. Once the dough has cooled down a with the help of your hands knead it to make smooth.
18. Take a tablespoon of dough, this ensures equal-sized ladoos.
19. With the greased hands, shape it into a circular disc with an indentation in the center.
20. Place the pistachio-cranberry filling at the center.
21. Fold up all the sides to bring it to the top.
22. Roll in between your palms to get a smooth ladoo with no cracks. Repeat to form all ladoos.
23. Carefully with the help of a tong place silver leaf over the ladoo.
24. Press the bottle cap dipped in the saffron solution to mark a circular ring on the top of ladoo covered with silver leaf and garnish with pistachio.
25. Enjoy the festive treat !!!
NOTES
1. To check for consistency of sugar syrup
Take a drop of sugar syrup and press in between your thumb and index finger. Now pull apart the thumb and index finger, the syrup will form one thread in between. If it doesn't form it means you have to boil the sugar syrup a little more. Do this test again, till you clearly get one thread in between your finger and thumb. If you boil the syrup beyond one thread consistency you end with a hard and brittle ladoo. Perfect sugar syrup consistency is key to melt in mouth, delicate ladoo.
2. The right way to grind the cashew to a fine flour texture
Take cashew that is at room temperature to grind. Do not add a whole lot of cashew at one time. Grind in batches. Also, give a pause after every 10 secs while grinding the cashew in the chopper/grinder. This ensures the temperature doesn't rise much and prevents cashew from releasing oil. Pass through a sieve and the residue can be added to the next batch of cashew for grinding. Do not over grind the cashew otherwise, it will release oil and become buttery which gives chewy ladoo.
3. Do not overstuff the ladoo with filling
Over stuffing the ladoo with filling makes it difficult to roll and develop cracks on the ladoo.
More Diwali Recipes......................click the links below.
Get ready to impress your family and friends with this exotic Kaju ladoo recipe. If you have tried this recipe do let me know in the comments, how it came out. I would love to hear from you.
Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram to know what's going on in my kitchen.