Cashew Nut Candy / Batasha

This is another of my grandmother's recipes. She would usually make it for my evening snacks when I was around 4 years old. I would also feed some of the candy to my dolls - Nikita and Milli. I would store the rest in my small toy containers for the next day. When you make the candy, you need to stir the sugar syrup till it reaches a single thread consistency. I would be very tempted to put my pointing finger into the syrup and lick it as I would not realize that it is very hot. So my grandmother would keep strict eye on me while making the candy and prevent me from sticking my hands into the hot syrup. The other day I saw Paula Deen making nutty candy and I remembered my grandmother's batasha. I made this for me and my husband and we enjoyed this candy in the evening.

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped cashew nuts
1 tablespoon clarified butter or ghee

Method
Put the sugar in a heavy bottomed pan with ghee and 2 tablespoon water. Spread ghee on a china plate or an aluminum or steel plate in advance to spread the hot candy. Heat sugar till it melts and gets to a point of single-thread consistency. I test it by adding a drop of the sugar on the plate and check it if it solidifies. If it does not solidify, heat further. When it solidifies, add the chopped cashew nuts and mix well. Put the mixture on the plate immediately, else it will harden in the pan and form a solid mass. Spread the mixture well on the plate with help of a spoon. When it cools down, cut it into pieces. Enjoy the candy.


Preparation time: 15 minutes