This kidney shaped nut grows out from the bottom of the cashew apple. Cashew nuts have a sweet, buttery flavor and contain about 48 percent fat. Because of their high fat content, they should be stored, tightly wrapped, in the freezer to keep from going rancid. If you roast them, their nutty flavor will increase.

The cashew nut is served as a snack or used in recipes, like other nuts, although it is actually a seed, even though we will call it a nut.  The cashew apple is a fruit, whose pulp can be processed into a sweet, astringent fruit drink or distilled into liqueur.

Did you know the shell of the cashew nut is toxic, which is why the nut is never sold in the shell to consumers?

Cashew nuts are commonly used in Indian cuisine, whole for garnishing sweets or curries, or ground into a paste that forms a base of sauces for curries or some sweets. It is also used in powdered form in the preparation of several Indian sweets and desserts. In Goan cuisine, both roasted and raw kernels are used whole for making curries and sweets.