Kaju Pista Roll / Cashew Pistachio Rolls - Diwali Recipes

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I love milk sweets a lot. When i was little and ask for sweets, amma used to make kesari, mysorepak and coconut barfi’s at home. And those store bought milk sweets, kaju katli and rich sweets like that was reserved only occasionally. I longed to eat them, since they were so expensive, amma doesn’t buy them often..

But when any of our relatives visit us they used to get these sweets and i enjoy many of them. My fond memories are i used to search and fight for these kaju rolls in the sweet box, because that box contains a mixture of milk sweets and this kaju rolls where found one or two pieces in each box…My goodness it tasted heavenly..

As i grew up as a teenager, even if amma buys these sweets i stayed away from them because of fat and calories. But I enjoyed this milk sweets to the maximum recently, when i was pregnant. Because people who drop in to see me bought many many box of this sweet. During that time, i got a idea I decided to make each sweet from that box myself and post it in this blog.

And here comes my first reveal. My favorite kaju pista rolls, i will make the remaining milk sweets as days pass on, so stay tuned. I thought this would be a great diwali sweet recipe for you all. Even though it is time consuming, it is a reward. Please make sure you read the complete recipe and notes before you proceed to make this..So please try this out and let me know how it turns out for you.

Preparation Time : 1 hour
Cooking Time : 45 mins to 1 hour
Makes : 6 big rolls or 15 to 20 small rolls

Ingredients:

For Cashew Roll:
Cashew – 100 grams
Sugar – 3/4 cup / 150 grams
Milk – 1/2 cup / 125 ml
Water – 1/2 cup / 125 ml
Saffron – few strands
Cardamom Powder – 1 tsp
Ghee – 2 tblspn

For Pista Roll:
Pistachios / Pista – 50 grams
Sugar – 1/2 cup / 100 grams
Milk – 1/4 cup / 60 ml
Water – 1/4 cup / 60 ml
Cardamom Powder – 1 tsp
Green Food Colouring – a pinch
Ghee – 1 tblspn

For Decorating:
Saffron – few strands
Edible silver leaf / Chandi Varak (optional)

Method:

Take a total of the milk given for cashew as well as cashew soaking in a sauce pan. Bring it to a simmer. Once it is warm, pour it over cashew and pista and leave it to soak for 1 hour or so. Now drain them and set aside. Reserve the milk for grinding them.

Start by making the cashew dough. Take soaked and drained cashews in a mixer. Grind them to a paste. Add the reserved milk for grinding them to a smooth paste.

Now take sugar and water in a non stick kadai. Mix well so the sugar is dissolved. Now bring the sugar to a boil and let it boil for 5 to 8 mins. At this stage the sugar syrup must have reached 1 string consistency. (ie) when you dip the spoon in the syrup and take it out, the last drop falling from the spoon will form a string like thing.

At this stage add in the cashew paste. Mix well continously. The cashew will get thick and leave the sides of the pan. Once it starts to get together, add in cardamom powder, saffron and mix well. Add in the ghee and stir well so it starts to foam up and leave the sides of the pan. At this stage, trasfer the mixture to a ghee greased plate. Leave to cool.

Now make the pista dough. Take soaked and drained pista in a mixer.
Grind them to a paste. Add the reserved milk for grinding them to a
smooth paste.

Now
take sugar and water in a non stick kadai. Mix well so the sugar is
dissolved. Now bring the sugar to a boil and let it boil for 5 to 8
mins. At this stage the sugar syrup must have reached 1 string
consistency. (ie) when you dip the spoon in the syrup and take it out,
the last drop falling from the spoon will form a string like thing.

At
this stage add in the pista paste. Mix well continously. The pista
will get thick and leave the sides of the pan. Once it starts to get
together, add in cardamom powder and green colour. Add in the ghee
and stir well so it starts to foam up and leave the sides of the pan. At
this stage, trasfer the mixture to a ghee greased plate. Leave to cool.

Now both the dough must be warm. Knead them for 5 mins or so till it forms into smooth dough.

Divide both the dough into equal portions. I made 6 huge rolls out of them, but you could make tiny rolls too. In such a case you can divide them into as many equal portions as you like.

Now take the cashew roll and roll them into a rectangle in a foil. Once you have rolled them, shape the pista dough into a log and place them over the cashew rectangle. Start rolling them and pinch the edges. Smooth the roll and cut them into equal portions.

Store them in a air tight container.

Notes:

1)You have to grind the cashews very smoothly, so it will be easy to form rolls. The pista mixture can be little coarse too.

2)The sugar syrup consistency should be perfect or you cannot knead the dough into a ball. If you find the cashew mixture or pista mixture sticky and it doesn’t form into a dough like mixture, dont panic, add them to the kadai and keep cooking till it gets into a thick mixture.

3)I made my kaju pista roll into big portions. But you can make it into small portions. In that case divide the cashew and pista dough into small balls and make small roll just like you get in shops.

4) Add ghee liberally if you find the dough sticking.

5) Dont add too much milk than mentioned or it will not give proper results.

Pictorial: