Cashews are the thing people ask us most about, and almost always the same question: why does one bag cost a hundred rupees more than the one beside it when both say kaju.
The answer is size, and whether the kernel is whole.
Whole cashews are sold by how many fit in a pound
The grading system the trade uses is simple once somebody explains it. A whole white cashew is graded W followed by a number, and that number is roughly how many kernels make up a pound. W180 means a hundred and eighty of them — so each one is large. W320 means three hundred and twenty, so each one is smaller.
Lower number, bigger nut, higher price. That is the whole of it.
Nothing about the taste changes with the grade. A large cashew and a small cashew off the same lot taste identical. What you are paying for is the look of it: a bowl put out for guests, a box sent as a gift, a garnish that has to sit on top of something and be seen.
On our shelf that is Super Cashew and Jumbo Cashew at the large end, and Regular Cashew as the everyday one.
Faad and tukda are the same kernel, broken
This is where most people overpay without meaning to.
Kaju Faad is a cashew split into two. Kaju Tukda is broken into four. They come off the same nut as the whole grades — a kernel splits during shelling, and a split kernel cannot be sold as whole.
It is the same cashew. It has the same fat, the same sweetness, the same everything. It simply does not look like a cashew any more.
So if the cashew is going to be ground into a paste for a gravy, soaked for a barfi, chopped into a pulao or blitzed into milk masala — buy the broken one. You will pay noticeably less for exactly the thing you were going to destroy anyway.
Buy whole when the cashew will be seen. Buy broken when it will not. That single rule saves more money than any offer we run.
Roasted and masala are a different decision
Kaju Roasted, Masala Cashew, Kaju Peri Peri and Kaju Black Pepper are made rather than graded, and they have a shorter life than a raw cashew. Oil and spice on the surface start going stale from the day they are made.
We mix them in small lots for that reason, and it is worth applying the same test wherever you buy: a roasted cashew that has been sitting in an open tray for a month tastes flat and slightly soapy. A fresh one snaps.
How to tell a good cashew by looking
- Colour should be even and pale ivory. A yellow or grey cast means age, or a lot that was dried badly.
- It should snap, not bend. A cashew that flexes has picked up moisture, and moisture is what turns a nut rancid.
- Look at the powder at the bottom of the bag. A little is normal. A lot means the lot has been handled repeatedly, which means it has been sitting somewhere for a while.
- Smell it. Fresh cashew smells faintly sweet and of almost nothing else. Anything sharp or paint-like is rancid fat, and no amount of roasting will hide it.
What we would actually buy
For a household that uses cashews in cooking: Regular whole for the bowl, and tukda for the kitchen. Two bags, and the second one costs less than people expect.
For a gift: Super or Jumbo, and buy it close to when you are giving it rather than a month early.
Everything on our shelf is weighed to order, so you can buy a hundred grams of two grades and settle the argument yourself before committing to a kilo of either.
Written at the counter in Salumbar, where these questions get asked every week.
