Blanched Peanuts

Blanched peanuts are peanuts with the papery red skin rubbed off, leaving a pale ivory kernel that splits cleanly down the middle. Most of the bitterness in a peanut sits in that skin, so the flavour here is milder and sweeter than a skin-on nut, and the bite is dense and crisp rather than woody. It is the same nut you would crush over a plate of chaat, only paler and smoother.

The skin is the whole point of this one. Without it the colour stays even, so the peanuts will not speckle a light sauce or a milk sweet, and they grind to a smoother paste. They come unroasted, which means the roast level and the salt are yours to set.

How to use them

Dry roast them in a heavy pan over medium heat for eight to ten minutes, shaking often, until they smell toasty and darken a shade. Crush them over chaat, papdi and bhel, or over Afghan and Persian salads for crunch. Grind them while still warm and they turn into smooth peanut butter without much help. Cook them down into peanut chutney, korma and other ground nut sauces where a pale kernel keeps the colour clean, or set them into peanut brittle and chikki. They also hold up in granola and trail mix, and stirred into a stir fry or noodle dish at the last moment so they stay crisp.

Details

Also known as

Blanched peanuts, skinless peanuts, white peanuts, peeled peanuts, groundnuts, monkey nuts, goober peas, mungfali, moongphali, badam zamini, cacahuetes