Roasted Cashews - Whole, Salted

These are whole cashews, roasted and salted: kaju mohammas, as Egyptian nut roasteries sell them. We buy them already roasted and pack them ourselves into resealable pouches of 250 g, 500 g and 1 kg. A cashew splits easily along its natural seam, so a few split halves turn up in any pouch of whole roasted cashews.

Roasting turns them golden and gives them a toasted, buttery taste with a light natural sweetness. The bite is the cashew's own: crisp at first, then soft and creamy, gentler than an almond. The salt brings the sweetness forward and makes them a snack on their own.

In Egypt cashews belong to the nut bowl and the feast table. They are among the nuts set out for guests with tea through the evenings of Ramadan and at Eid, and at weddings and feasts they are fried golden and scattered over rice and biryani. Chopped, they go with other nuts over konafa, om ali and the sweets of the Eid tray.

Eat them by the handful with tea or coffee, or set them out in a bowl for guests. For rice and biryani, warm them for a minute in a little ghee or butter and scatter them over the dish just before serving; they are salted, so taste the dish before you add more salt. Chop them over konafa, om ali, rice pudding or muhallabia; a little salt sits well against syrup and cream. They are already roasted, so add them to anything that bakes near the end of the baking time: a second long bake can darken them and make them bitter. If they have lost a little crunch, warm them for a few minutes in a dry pan and let them cool.

Cashews are a tree nut, one of the major food allergens, and for some people even a small amount can cause a serious reaction. This pouch contains TREE NUTS (CASHEWS). Keep it away from anyone with a nut allergy, and wipe boards and bowls after chopping. People allergic to pistachios often react to cashews as well, because the two are close relatives. We cannot confirm that they were roasted or packed away from peanuts, other nuts or sesame, so if you have another food allergy as well, ask us before you order. Whole nuts are a choking risk for small children: chop or grind them for young eaters.

Two things this page does not claim. We have not been able to confirm where these cashews were grown, so no country is named here. Cashews are also widely sold with long lists of claimed effects, and this listing repeats none of them. They are sold as food, and nothing here is a health claim or medical advice.

Roasted cashews keep their crunch and their fresh, toasted taste for a limited time, because the oil in a roasted nut slowly goes stale, faster in heat and light. Keep the pouch pressed shut, cool and dark, and in a hot kitchen keep it in the fridge. Count on about three months of best taste from delivery while the pouch stays sealed, and about one month once it is open. If they ever smell sharp, like paint or old oil, instead of toasted, they have gone rancid and are best thrown away.