Nuts, Dried Fruit & Seeds

Nuts and dried fruit, known together as dry fruits or mewa in Hindi and Urdu, carry a special place in South Asian homes. They are the gift box at Diwali and Eid, the handful in the morning, the garnish on a biryani and the base of the richest sweets. In the kitchen they thicken kormas, crown kheer and fill gujiya. This department covers the whole shelf, bought in sizes that suit a single recipe or a season of cooking and gifting in the UK.

Nuts is the largest category: almonds (badam) whole, flaked and ground; cashews (kaju) whole, jumbo, split and broken; pistachio kernels and roasted salted pistachios; walnut halves (akhrot); peanuts red, pink, blanched and in the shell; and mixed nuts with or without raisins. Each has its own place, from kaju katli to peanut chikki to badam milk.

Dried fruit brings dates and dry dates (chuhara), raisins and sultanas including large munakka and golden abjosh, dried apricots for qubani ka meetha, and the sour, fruity shelf of amla, kokum and alu bukhara. Seeds covers pumpkin, sunflower, linseed and chia, and char magaz, the melon seed mix used in thandai and korma.

Choosing is mostly about use. Whole nuts and jumbo grades are for eating and gifting, while broken and split cashews, flaked almonds and kernels are just as good in a curry or a sweet and far easier to work with. Ground almonds save grinding for burfi and cakes. Dried fruit varies in moisture, so pick soft dates for eating and dry dates for cooking.

Nuts and seeds contain natural oils that turn rancid with warmth and light. Keep opened packs in airtight jars in a cool cupboard, and move anything you will not use within a couple of months to the freezer, where it keeps its flavour much longer. For baking, see baking, sugar and desserts, and for tempering seeds such as sesame, the whole spices aisle.