It is difficult to think of any Indian dessert without the use of cashews. Cashew, a healthy nut comes with enormous benefits and finds usage in several dishes. This delicately flavoured nut can also be eaten in between meals or as a snack. This cashew is usually salted.
Originating in Brazil, the cashew nut is becoming popular all over the world. Cashews have been used in Indian cuisine since time immemorial. Today, the cashew nut is grown in many parts of India as well.
You can buy raw, roasted, and flavoured cashews on bigbasket. 1 kg whole cashew is priced at Rs. 825.
Rich in minerals, cashews offer a lot of health benefits. It is loaded with healthy fats and a considerable amount of these nuts is actually good for your diet and won’t make you gain weight.
Here are some amazing kaju nut benefits:
Improves Heart Health:
Eating cashew nuts regularly will most likely keep a check on various cholesterol-related ailments. It will lower cholesterol levels, inflammation, oxidative stress, and vascular reactivity.
Cashews increase HDL’s carrying capacity and lower LDL in the blood. HDL absorbs cholesterol from the heart and takes it to the liver for it get broken down.
Kaju contains a lot of monounsaturated fatty acids that are healthy for the heart. A low-fat diet containing monounsaturated fatty acid can help lower triglyceride levels. High triglyceride can lead to various heart diseases.
Many studies from around the world claim that cashew consumption can bring down the incidence of death due to heart ailments, respiratory diseases, and cancer. Cashews, like most other nuts, contains protein, vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, minerals that offer anti-carcinogenic, heart-protection, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Keeps Blood Clean:
Consuming cashews regularly will also help in preventing blood diseases. Rich in copper, cashew nuts help in cleaning the body off free radicals. Deficiency of copper can lead to iron deficiency and causes anaemia. That’s why it is important to include copper in your diet, and cashews happen to be a great source.
Protects Eyes:
Cashew nuts contain Zeaxanthin, an antioxidant that keeps a lot of infections at bay. With the increasing pollution and unhealthy lifestyle, infections have become common. And, your eyes are the most common victim of the same.
Zeaxanthin present in cashews gets easily absorbed by the retina, which then forms a protective layer. This layer protects the retina from the harmful UV rays. Zeaxanthin also prevents macular degeneration and help maintain eye health.
Reduce Risk of Weight Gain:
Most people avoid nuts as they fear weight gain. But this is baseless.
It is true that eating a lot of cashews regularly will lead to weight gain. However, it has been proved that people who eat cashews 2-3 times in a week are less likely to gain weight compared to people who don’t eat cashews at all.
Good Source of Fibre:
Cashews contain a high percentage of fibres. Palmitic acid and oleic acid are two important dietary fibres required by the body. They are not produced internally, and so have to be consumed from external sources.
Cashew nuts have both these fibres and help in the digestion of food. However, avoid eating too much of these nuts as it can lead to bloating.
How to eat Cashews?
Cashews can be eaten raw, and that is the best way to reap all the health benefits. Flavoured cashew nuts are another option you have.
You can also add cashews to desserts to enhance their taste and texture. Cashew nuts are also added to various rice dishes across India.
Cashew Recipes
Here are some amazing and easy cashew recipes that you can try at home:
Ingredients:
Steps to Follow
Step 1: Pour the cashews in a dry mixer and make them into a powder.
Step 2: Eliminate any big particles by passing the powder through a sieve.
Step 3: Put a pan over a medium flame. Add sugar and water.
Step 4: Reduce the heat and stir the sugar until it gets dissolved.
Step 5: Boil the syrup for a few seconds.
Step 6: Keeping the flame at minimum, add the cashew powder and mix well. Check the consistency.
Step 7: Now transfer the mixture to another bowl and let it cool down a little. Add a little ghee and start kneading the cashew dough. Keep kneading till the dough becomes soft.
Step 8: Transfer this soft dough on a greased plate or butter paper and roll it using a rolling pin. Roll it into a rectangle shape. This will make it easy for you to cut cashew barfi in a diamond shape.
Step 9: Cut into a diamond shape and decorate the barfi with silver leaf. Garnish with grounded almonds and pistachios.
Step 10: You can store the barfis for 3-4 days.
Surprise your guests this Diwali with homemade kaju barfis. Here’s how.
Ingredients:
Steps to Follow
Step 1: Keep cashew nuts soaked in water for 30-45 minutes.
Step 2: Grind the nuts in a mixer into a smooth paste but adding a little water.
Step 3: Take one cup of the cashew nut paste and one cup of powdered sugar. Put them on a non-stick pan kept over medium flame. Mix well.
Step 4: Add the saffron strands and khova. Mix all the ingredients well. Taste and see if more sugar will be required.
Step 5: Stir for 5-10 minutes or till the mixture thickens and starts leaving the sides of the pan.
Step 6: Now take a small lump of the mixture on your palm. See if you are able to make a ball. If you can make a ball, it means the consistency is correct.
Step 7: Take the pan away from the flame and let the mixture cool.
Step 8: Once the mixture cools a little but is still warm, knead it into a soft dough.
Step 9: Roll the dough to form a thick circle and cut diamond shapes from it.
Step 10: Let the pieces set.
Visit bigbasket Cookbook for more recipes.
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