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Going nutty over cashew

Mangalore is where the kaju burfi was born and everything from curry to candy is made with this tasty nut

PHOTO: K.K. MUSTAFAH

KAJU MANIA A fresh crop of cashew has flooded Mangalore's markets.

Every country has a nut to talk about and show off. Americans, Europeans and Australians consume tonnes of walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds and many other exotic varieties many of us are yet to taste. But now our own nut — the cashew — is being crowned king and is going places, especially when it is party time.

Thanks to the Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers Association (KCMA) the cashewnut has become the new reason to drool in many parts of the world and even in India where it wasn't very popular before. Every pub, bar and private party makes a big show of the small nut for its guests. Cashews, especially those coated with masala or laced with pepper, go well with draught beer. Those who like to down something stronger like it roasted and salted and even toasted, say people in Mangalore's popular pub — Charger. A bowlful of roasted cashew has become a standard accompaniment in many households when guests arrive for a party. There's a fresh crop of cashew in the market and at every street corner one can see shopkeepers drying cashew, after shelling them. Raw cashew makes for great curry with sautéed gherkins. Every sweet dish in traditional households has to be garnished with cashew. Cashew paste, in fact, adds richness and flavour to the masalas in vegetarian dishes.

The kaju burfi exported worldwide by confectioners around the country owe their popularity to Mangalore, which gave birth to this very aromatic sweet snack. Bhagatram and Arya Bhavan of Bangalore, Karachiwala of Karol Bagh in Delhi, Damodarwala in Dadar (Mumbai), Pulla Reddy in Hyderabad and Ramakrishna Lunch Home and Archana sweets in Chennai are phenomenal producers of kaju burfi now. Mangalore's own Ramdev Sweets sells volumes of the burfi.

India is the world's largest producer of cashew. It exports 120,000 tonnes of cashew a year and is the second biggest consumer of cashew kernel with 90,000 tonnes a year against that of 115,000 tonnes in the United States of America. The cashew has a rare combination of fats, carbohydrates and proteins and is considered a source of high energy and a power-packed snack.

The survival kit of soldiers in high altitude areas comprises of a packet of cashew mixed with other nuts while most cricketers, swimmers and footballers and power-lifters consume cashew in good quantities. Raw cashewnuts are supposed to be free of sodium and contain seven per cent of the recommended daily value of dietary fibre per serving. They are a good source of iron and potassium and contain small amounts of micronutrients like thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid and fibres.

CASHEW CAPERS

Cashew goes with just about anything: various masala coatings, homemade brownies with cashews, homemade chocolates with cashew chunks, cashew with husk (used in various vegetarian dishes), cashew apple juice, cashew apple syrup, squash, jam and candy and tuty-fruity all produced from cashew apple. Kerala offers cashew wine, cashew liquor (not feni), cashew vinegar and canned cashew apple and cashew apple chutney — which go well with rotis.

M.RAGHURAM

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