Cashew, Badam and Kismis: Picking Dry Fruits for the Kitchen, Not Just the Snack Bowl

Cashew, badam (almonds) and kismis (raisins) get bought as snacks often enough, but in a South Indian kitchen they do real cooking work too — in tempering, in payasam, and in a handful of festive dishes where they're as much a functional ingredient as a garnish.

Cashew: fried into the tempering, or ground into gravy

Whole cashews, fried in ghee until golden, are a common finishing touch for kesari, sevai and a good number of festive sweets and savouries — added at the very end so they stay crisp rather than softening in the dish. Broken cashew pieces, being cheaper than whole, are often used instead when the cashew is going to be ground rather than left whole — blended into a paste as a thickener for a rich kurma or a korma-style gravy, where the fat content of the nut gives the sauce body without needing extra cream.

Badam: soaked for milk, or slivered for garnish

Badam is most often used two ways: soaked overnight and blended into badam milk (sometimes flavoured with a little saffron or cardamom), or slivered thin and scattered over payasam and halwa as a garnish. Soaking softens the skin enough to peel it off easily if a recipe calls for peeled almonds, which many badam milk recipes do — the skin can otherwise leave a slightly bitter edge in a smooth drink.

Kismis: for sweetness and texture in payasam

Raisins are a near-constant presence in payasam and kesari, usually fried briefly in ghee alongside cashews until they plump up slightly, adding little bursts of concentrated sweetness through the dish. They're also a common addition to a festive pulao or biryani, where a handful stirred in near the end adds sweetness against the savoury rice without needing any added sugar in the dish itself.

Buying and storing dry fruits

• Buy in a quantity you'll use within a couple of months — dry fruits can turn rancid or lose crispness if they sit too long, especially in humid weather.
• Store in an airtight container, ideally in the fridge during the more humid months, to keep cashews and almonds from going soft or stale.
• Check for a fresh smell before use — a musty or sour smell is a sign the batch has turned.
• Buy broken cashew pieces rather than whole if the plan is to grind them into a gravy paste — no reason to pay for whole pieces you're about to blend anyway.

A note on whole vs. broken, and toasting

Whole cashews and slivered almonds cost more than their broken counterparts largely because whole pieces are picked and graded more carefully — worth paying for when the nut will be visible in the finished dish, and not worth it when it's going to be ground into a paste anyway. A quick dry-toast in a pan before use, just until the nuts turn a shade darker and start to smell fragrant, deepens the flavour of both cashew and almond noticeably compared to using them straight from the packet, whether they're headed into a gravy or a garnish.

All three are stocked in the groceries category, in a range of pack sizes — worth checking current prices on each product page, since they move with the market. Express delivery in about 60 minutes if a payasam is already on the stove and the kismis jar turns up empty.