Kaju Katli
My favourite Indian sweet is Kaju Katli.
Kaju means cashew. Are the two words cognate? Or is one a loan word (and in which direction?)
UPDATE (2005-07-22): Merriam-Webster claims cashew is from the Portuguese acajú. Platt's Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi and English says that काजू is probably from...you guessed it—the Portuguese word acajú. But even the Portuguese acajú is just a loan word from the Tupi acajú.
Comments (3)
James Tauber on July 22, 2005:
Not sure if I've tried badam katli. I'll ask some of my Indian friends.
Regarding the origin, it seems that the plant itself is native to America so I'd say काजू comes from the Portuguese (and ultimately the Tupi) just like cashew does.
James Marcus on July 26, 2005:
Well I like Kaju too. I make the guys bring fresh sweets from Pune.
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Last Modified: July 22, 2005
Author: James Tauber
deepak on July 22, 2005:
Quite amusing to note your love of kaju katlis.
http://orientalthane.com/history/news_2004_07_01.htm
suggests that cashew comes from kaju.
have you tried kaju katli's cousins like badam katli :-)