Roasted Salted Cashews (Kaju)

These are cashews taken through the roaster and lightly salted: crisp the whole way through, deep gold instead of pale, with the natural sweetness concentrated by the heat and a clean salt edge that lands first. Set one next to a raw cashew and the difference is the same as a roasted almond next to a raw one, toasted and buttery rather than milky.

The difference from our raw cashews is simply that the work is done. Roasted and salted means they go from bag to bowl with nothing else needed, but it also means they will not soak and blend into a smooth gravy the way raw kernels will. These are the ones to eat.

How to use them

Put them out with green or black tea, on a mezze table beside olives and pickles, or on an Eid or Nowruz tray with dried fruit and sugared almonds. Chop them over kheer, sheer birinj or ice cream, where the salt cuts through the sweetness. They are good folded into a chicken salad, scattered over a stir fry in the last thirty seconds so they stay crisp, crushed over chaat, or packed into trail mix for the road. If the bag has been open a while, five minutes in a low oven brings the crunch back and they taste freshly roasted again.

Details

Also known as

Kaju, roasted cashews, salted cashews, salt roasted cashew nuts, bhuney huye namkeen kaju, badam hindi bo dada namaki, anacardos tostados con sal, noix de cajou grillees salees, kavrulmus tuzlu kaju