In this guide
Quick answer
For a home batch of Deepavali sweets, plan on about 200 g of almonds for badam halwa, 250 g of cashews for kaju katli, and 250 g of soft dates with 150–200 g of mixed nuts for dry fruit laddoo. That is a little under a kilo of nuts and dates for three sweets, each enough for a family and a few plates for the neighbours.
In most Tamil homes, the bakshanam starts days before Deepavali. Murukku, thattai and ribbon pakoda come first because they keep. Mysore pak, adhirasam and rava laddu follow. And somewhere in that list there is usually one nut sweet, the one everybody waits for. We sell the nuts, not the sweets; this is what to buy and how much.
Badam halwa: which almonds, and how many
Badam halwa is almonds soaked, peeled, ground with a little milk, then cooked slowly with sugar and ghee until it leaves the pan, with saffron for colour. It is the sweet that takes the longest stirring and the one that disappears first.
For a family batch: about 200 g almonds (roughly 1 1/4 cups), 150–200 g sugar, 100–120 g ghee, a cup of milk, and a pinch of saffron. That makes a tray for 8–10 people.
Buy Regular Badam for this. The almonds are soaked, peeled and ground, so their size and look do not matter. Save Mamra for eating whole; in a halwa you would be paying for oil and flavour that the ghee and sugar mostly cover. Almonds run around ₹990–₹1,120 a kilo for the everyday lot.
Prices on this page were checked in September 2026 and are a guide only. Dry fruit rates change with the crop and the season, so our product pages always show today’s price.
Soak the almonds in hot water for about 30 minutes, or overnight in cold water, and the skins slip off between two fingers. Grind in short bursts with a splash of milk. A coarse, slightly grainy paste gives the halwa its texture; a completely smooth one turns gluey.
Kaju katli at home: why broken cashews are the right buy
Kaju katli is cashew powder cooked in sugar syrup into a soft dough, rolled thin and cut into diamonds. It looks simple and it is where most home batches go wrong: the cashew releases oil while grinding, and the dough turns greasy.
For about 25–30 pieces: 250 g cashews, 125 g sugar, about 1/4 cup water, a teaspoon of ghee and a little cardamom powder if you like it.
Use Broken Cashew (Kaju Tukda). You are grinding it to a powder, so there is no reason to pay for whole kernels. It is the same kaju and it costs less. Our guide on kaju grades explains why.
- Grind dry, in short pulses. A few seconds at a time, shaking the jar between pulses. Continuous grinding heats the cashew and turns it into paste.
- Sieve the powder. Regrind the coarse bits the same way.
- Cook the syrup just until it is sticky, then add the powder on low heat and stir until it gathers into a soft mass.
- Knead while warm, with a touch of ghee on your palms, then roll between two sheets of butter paper.
Dry fruit laddoo: the one with no added sugar
Dry fruit laddoo is soft dates ground with chopped roasted nuts, rolled into balls. It needs no syrup and no sugar, which is why many families make it alongside the traditional sweets for the elders who avoid sugar. Dates are still sugar, though; anyone diabetic should ask their doctor before eating them.
For about 20 laddoos: 250 g soft seedless dates, 150–200 g mixed nuts (almonds, cashews, pista, a few walnuts), 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds or desiccated coconut if you like, and a teaspoon of ghee.
Soft Black Dates (Khajoor) grind into a paste easily. Remove the seeds first. Roast the nuts lightly in a dry pan, chop them coarsely, then mix everything and roll while warm. A few Pista Kernels chopped in give the green flecks that make them look festive.
Shopping list for a three-sweet Deepavali
| Item | Badam halwa | Kaju katli | Dry fruit laddoo | Total to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almonds | 200 g | – | 60 g | 500 g pack |
| Cashews (broken is fine) | – | 250 g | 60 g | 500 g pack |
| Soft dates | – | – | 250 g | 250 g pack |
| Pista | garnish | – | 30 g | 250 g pack |
| Green cardamom | a few pods | a few pods | – | 100 g pack |
If you are also making rava laddu or semiya kesari, add another 100 g of cashews and a small bag of raisins for frying in ghee. Fresh green elaichi, powdered on the day, lifts every one of these sweets. Everything else is on the nuts shelf.
Ordering in time for Deepavali
Deepavali falls in October or November, and in Tamil Nadu the day begins before dawn with the oil bath and new clothes, so the sweets have to be ready the night before. Work backwards: bakshanam making usually starts three or four days ahead, and delivery to Chennai takes 4–6 days. Order two weeks before the festival and you will not be waiting on a parcel while the ghee is warming.
Delivery is free on every order, and orders start at ₹1,500. See today’s dry fruit prices in Chennai before you order.
Store the nuts in airtight jars until you use them. Chennai’s October rains bring damp air, and cashews soften fast in it.
Questions people ask
How many almonds do I need for badam halwa?
About 200 g of almonds makes a tray of badam halwa for 8–10 people.
Why does my kaju katli dough turn oily?
The cashews were ground too long and released their oil. Grind in short pulses with the jar dry, and stop as soon as it is a powder.
Can I use broken cashews for kaju katli?
Yes. They are ground to powder anyway, and broken kaju costs less than whole.
Which dates are best for dry fruit laddoo?
Soft, moist black dates. They grind into a sticky paste that holds the nuts together without any sugar syrup.
Written at our counter, where these questions get asked every week.
