Cashew nuts, passion of the East
Cashew nuts, acajou, cashew nuts: with such a beautiful name you could only have a healthy and versatile food in the kitchen, with a soft and delicate taste, able to enter as a special ingredient in many sweet and savory recipes.
Appreciated and widely used in the East, cashews are part of many Thai, Japanese, Indian and Chinese food traditions, from "noodles" to chicken, passing through delicious sauces and condiments, to which we will give a simple and fantastic recipe, up to the various and exquisite "pulao" .
And don't be surprised if, by soaking the cashews, they can become a special and thick cream to garnish sweets, sformare semifreddi or nourishing velvets, especially recommended in vegan and vegetarian diets.
Pea and cashew cream soup
Ingredients for 2 people :
> About 100 g of natural cashew nuts (unsalted);
> 2 cups of fresh or frozen peas;
> 2 clear ribs of clean celery;
> half a garlic clove;
> 2 white onions;
> extra virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper, vegetable broth.
Preparation
Fry the chopped onions, garlic and celery together in a large frying pan together, adding a little water to prevent them from becoming too golden; let it cook with the lid for about ten minutes, adding salt and pepper.
Uncover and add the cashews and peas and cook with vegetable broth for another 20 minutes. Finally, pass with the immersion blender, adding more water if it is too thick. Serve to taste with raw oil and toasted onion slices or shallots.
Cashew Pulao, rice with cashews
Ingredients for two people:
> 100 g of boiled basmati rice;
> a small chopped white onion;
> 50 ml of coconut milk;
> lime or lemon juice, a hot pepper;
> 2 tablespoons of cashews in natural coarsely crushed;
> a tablespoon of chopped coriander, a teaspoon of black mustard seeds, a pinch of cumin seeds, a pinch of turmeric
> seed oil, salt
Preparation
Heat the oil in a large pan, add the mustard seeds, then the cumin seeds, the cashews and the chopped chilli pepper, which you will then remove. Put the chopped onion on it and fry it, then add the turmeric, rice and coconut milk, stirring well.
Let it cook for a couple of minutes, turn off and leave it covered for the same amount of time . Serve adding chopped coriander leaves and lime or lemon juice.
Thai sauce with cashews
Ingredients for two people:
> 3 tablespoons of natural cashew nuts;
> 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil;
> 3 tablespoons of water;
> half a tablespoon of organic and natural coconut oil;
> half dry hot pepper;
> 2 tablespoons of soy sauce;
> half a teaspoon of cane sugar;
> a chopped spring onion.
Preparation
Place all the ingredients in the mixer, pour into a bowl and finish with the finely chopped onion . If it is too thick, add a few more tablespoons of water to the sauce.
