Recipe: Kaaju Pista rolls within 45 minutes

Getting together to share pre-made Mitthai

With Divali and New Year approaching, I had the excuse I'd been waiting for! A chance to explore making vegan Mitthai with friends!

'Indian' sweets are made and shared during this festivity, but they often contain non-vegan ingredients, such as, ghee, butter or condensed milk.

The thing is...I'm not used to being vegan and missing out! So with that in mind; I arranged for some like-minded folk to get together and share the fruits of recipes that they'd experimented with. My hope was that we'd end up with a selection of vegan Mitthai to take away with us! 

I'll tell you more about the event in another post.

Jigna use the recipe below to make a very cool looking, and even better tasting, roll, which has subtle flavours, and is simply moreish! 

The recipe makes 25 - 30 pieces.

Ingredients for making the cashew nut layer of the vegan Kaaju Pista rolls

• 1 cup of cashew nuts
• 1/2 cup of vegan sugar
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of cardamom
• 7 - 8 strands of saffron

Ingredients for making the pistacio layer of the vegan Kaaju Pista rolls

• 1 cup of pistachios
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of cardamom

How to make vegan Kaaju Pista rolls

1. In a dry grinder, grind the cashew nuts until they become turn into a fine powdered
2. In a pan, mix the sugar and water and boil it until a 1 string consistency is achieved - for clarification about this see the images at the end of these instructions 
3. Add cardamom and saffron to the liquid sugar
4. Add the cashew powder and stir until it's fully combined
5. Heat it on a low setting until the mixture leaves the pan/doesn't stick to the pan
6. Shape it in to a ball and let it cool
7. Repeat the same with the ingredients for making the pistacio layer of the vegan Kaaju Pista rolls
   • In a dry grinder, grind the pistachios until they turn into a fine powder
   • In a pan, mix the sugar and water and boil it until a 1 string consistency is achieved
   • Add in cardamom to the liquid sugar 
   • Add the powdered pistachios until it's fully combined
   • Heat on a low setting until the mixture leaves the pan
   • Form a ball and let it cool
8. Roll the cooled cashew nut mixture on a lined surface
9. Similarly, roll the cooled pistachio mixture on a lined surface
10. Place the rolled pistachios over the rolled cashew nuts and slowly fold the 2 to create a roll
11. The roll should be tight and firm
12. Cover it in cling film and let it set in the refrigerator for an hour
13. After an hour, cut it even pieces - I used a knife with a serrated blade to create a patten in each of the slices 

These images were sourced from a video which shows you how to make liquid sugar. The part that models how to recognise when you have 1 string consistency can be seen 5 minutes into the footage.

Recipe and photo provided by Jigna Shah

Related content 

Recipe for Halwa 
Recipe for Date and Nut Slices
Recipe for Pista Barfi 
Recipe for Maava Na Penda

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