This weekend we were trying to decide what to make for dinner. My 6 year old and husband were knee deep in the basketball tournament, and stopping for dinner didn’t seem like something they were interested in. My husband said we should just have a few appetizers and call it good. Problem was, I needed to go grocery shopping, so all of our go to appetizers weren’t options. (Note, I was also being lazy and didn’t want to go to the store) My husband went to my trusty Cook’s Illustrated cookbook, and said he would just turn to a page and we would make whatever it was. Well, he turned to Calzones. We had made those a couple weeks before (don’t worry, the recipe is coming), and I was not putting that much work into this dinner. So he started over, and went to the first page, and was going to just go until he found something. He was in luck! On the first page was a recipe for Indian-Spiced Cashews, Pistachio’s and Currants. I had everything but the currants, so he went to the kitchen and made these!
My husband doesn’t cook often, but when he does he does a wonderful job. He is a very detail oriented person, so he can follow a recipe like no body’s business. But, I must admit that I was skeptical of this recipe from the start. I like nuts, I like Indian flavors, but them combined just didn’t sound good to me. Boy was I wrong, they are fantastic, bordering on addictive. The real surprise came when our 6 year old wanted to try one. We gladly gave him one, but thought it would end with him spitting it out and drinking lots of water. Wrong again! He loved them. Days later and he keeps saying how good they are. Any time someone opens the container, he runs across the room wanting some.
As I said, I left out the currants. It only called for 2 Tbls of dried currants, so I don’t think we were really missing out on anything. Both the cashews and pistachios are great in the seasoning, but the pistachios really sucked up the Indian flavors. I can imagine this seasoning would be good on almonds and peanuts as well. Slightly sweet, salty, spicy (but not hot)…I think I know what I am having for a snack tonight!
Indian Spiced Nuts
Classic Indian spices with cashews and pistachios
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cups pistachios, , shelled
- 1 Tbls sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- 2 Tbls water
- 1 Tbls unsalted butter
- 1 tsp brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread cashews onto a lined baking sheet. Bake for 4 minutes, rotate the pan and toast for 4 minutes longer. Add the pistachios, spreading in an even layer. Toast for 2 minutes longer, or until fragrant.
- While the nuts are toasting combine sugar, salt, curry powder, cumin and coriander in a medium sized bowl (big enough to toss nuts in later). Bring water, butter and brown sugar to boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Add the toasted nuts to butter mixture, and stir until nuts are coated and shiny, about 1 1/2 minutes. All of the liquid should evaporate. Transfer the nuts to the spice mix, and toss to coat. Spread nuts back out on baking sheet, and cool completely before serving. Store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
Recipe from Cook's Illustrated
Nutrition Information
Yield
10Serving Size
10 ServingsAmount Per Serving Calories 139Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 3mgSodium 263mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 1gSugar 2gProtein 4g
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Alyssa says
Yum, I love this. I’m the only one who likes nuts in my house so I would have these all to myself 🙂
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
Sending this recipe to my husband who’s enjoys snacking nuts. We have all ingredients! =)
Lemons and Anchovies says
Love the flavors in these nuts!
April says
This sounds amazing! and I love Cooks Illustrated! I have some peanuts laying around waiting to be used, I might have to get experimenting now!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
Love spiced nuts and yours looks excellent! I love Indian flavors!
Dee at Deelicious Sweets says
Wow, I’m impressed by two things here.
#1, those nuts sound awesome! I love the idea of an Indian spiced nut recipe.
#2, your hubby made these! He got up from watching basketball to make these up! You have a keeper 🙂
When my hubby cooks (which is so extremely rare) he is also detail oriented. Everything is so good. Weird! I wish he cooked more often.