Cashew Nuts

Cashews, known as kaju in Hindi, Gujarati and Sinhala alike, are native to Brazil but have been grown along India's west coast and in Sri Lanka for centuries. They are soft and buttery, with a mild sweetness that makes them the most useful nut in the Indian kitchen. Soaked and blended, they give restaurant-style gravies such as paneer butter masala and navratan korma their silky body. Fried in ghee, they top biryani, pongal, upma and kesari. In Sri Lanka, soaked cashews are cooked in coconut milk as kaju maluwa, a festive curry.

Cashews are graded by size and whether they are whole or broken. Whole and jumbo kernels are for snacking, gift boxes and dishes where the nut is seen. Splits, where the kernel has halved along its natural line, and broken pieces cost the kitchen nothing in flavour and are the sensible choice for grinding into gravies, sweets and cashew cream. Large white pieces sit in between, good for pulao and stir-fries. Larger bags suit households that cook with them weekly.

For a smooth paste, soak cashews in hot water for twenty minutes before blending. To fry, use a low heat and pull them off the moment they turn pale gold, as they darken quickly off the flame. They sit under nuts, beside almonds and mixed nuts, and they are often used with raisins in payasam and ghee for frying.