What to use instead of cashews
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
Advertisement
Blended into a smooth rich sauce
Cashews are high in fat and low in fibre, so soaked and blended they go completely smooth and thicken a gravy the way cream does.
Blanched almonds, soakedRan out
1:1 by weight, soaked 4 hours in hot water
Never goes quite as smooth because of the higher fibre. Push the puree through a sieve or the gravy stays grainy.
Raw sunflower seeds, soakedNut-free
1:1 by weight, soaked 4 hours
Blends nearly as smooth and turns the sauce grey-green. Tastes clearly of seed, so lean harder on the whole spices.
Melon seeds, sold as magazNut-free
1:1 by weight, soaked 2 hours
The traditional Indian option. Blends smooth, thickens the same, and tastes milder and less sweet than cashew.
Full-fat coconut milkRan out
1/2 cup coconut milk per 1/2 cup raw cashews, minus 1/2 cup stock
Rich and smooth with no blending at all. Coconut comes through clearly and the finished gravy sits looser.
Heavy creamNut-free
1/3 cup cream per 1/2 cup raw cashews
Thinner body, and it can split if the gravy boils. No nutty sweetness, so add 1 tsp sugar to cover the gap.
What doesn't work: Roasted salted cashews out of the snack tin. Roasting sets the proteins so they never blend fully smooth, and the salt and added oil leave the gravy greasy and over-seasoned before it is finished.
Toasted nut for crunch in a stir-fry or rice
Whole cashews stay crisp against soft rice and their sweetness balances salt and chilli. The crunch is the reason they are in the dish.
Roasted peanutsRan out
1:1 by volume
Harder crunch and a much stronger roast that takes over a delicate dish. Cheaper by a wide margin.
Blanched almonds, halved and toastedRan out
1:1 by volume
Crunchier and drier with a woodier taste. They start pale, so give them a few more minutes in the pan.
Toasted pumpkin seedsNut-free
3/4 the volume
Crisp rather than dense-crunchy and quite green tasting. They hold that crispness in sauce longer than cashews do.
Fried shallotsNut-free
half the volume
Crisp and sweet-savoury, and they soften within two minutes in a wet dish, so scatter them at the table.
What doesn't work: Stirring the cashews in at the start of the stir-fry. They soak up sauce and go leathery within two minutes, so the texture that justified them is gone by the time it reaches the table.