Tender Cashew Nut Curry Recipe | How to Cook Fresh Cashew Nuts

Tender cashew nuts or you can say fresh or wet cashewnuts are one of the regional and seasonal delicacies. There are different local names for tender cashew nuts like at my place they are called as "kaju ke beej or cashew beans or biyo" while at some places they call it "gir". There are several ways to cook these delicious tender nuts including sweet and savoury, this coconut milk based curry is most popular in our area. Though sometimes we make masala fried dry gir but that's more common in some other places. My mom makes delicious cashew pudding (I will share recipe later, in sha Allah) and one more way is to cook sweet cashew nuts in dessicated coconut and that tastes yummy as well.

Anyway, coming back to this coconut milk based cashew curry, we prefer it with rice flour roti, fried fish or prawns and some chutney, salad on side. One more thing, though the nuts are yet tender they take time to cook and become soft so you can use pressure cooker but just take care that they shouldn't break or become mushy.

Another important thing is How to peel/clean cashewnuts: they are sticky and
absorb moisture from your palm skin leaving it dry so be careful while peeling or you can say cleaning the cashew beans/nuts whatever. So there are a few trick to avoid much harm. Like,

1. Apply dry rice flour all over the nuts and start peeling.
2. Keep some cooking oil on your hands before peeling the beans.
3. Soak them in warm water for about 15-20 minutes before peeling.
4. Freeze them overnight then thaw before peeling.

How to make Tender Cashew Nut Curry

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cashewnuts
• 1 large onion
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/4the teaspoon turmeric powder
• Salt as per taste
• Desi ghee (or cooking oil) 2 tablespoons
• 1 cup thick coconut milk

Method:

1. Peel, wash and finely slice the onion. Heat pure ghee/oil in a pan and then fry onions till translucent.

2. Add ginger garlic paste, sauté for 2-3 minutes and then add all the powder spices and salt. Let it cook till raw fragrance is gone.

3. Now wash well the cashew nuts and add to the prepare masala. Mix well and then add water just half inch above the sachet nuts masala. Cover and let it simmer till all the moisture has absorbed. Check of the nuts are done. If they are very soft to touch and crack on apply a little pressure with one finger then they are done. Or else add some more water and let them cook for some time.

4. Once the masala is all dry and starts leaving oil, turn off the flame and let it cool down a bit.

5. Now add coconut milk and bring it to a boil. It's ready to be served!