Cashew Fruit from Goa & Konkan
Cashew fruit, or cashew apple, is a fleshy accessory fruit that develops beneath the cashew nut.
It is an oval or pear-shaped structure about 5–11 cm (2–41⁄4 in) long. It is yellow, orange, or red. It is edible and has a sweet and sour taste.
It is a good source of vitamins C and A, fibre, and potassium.
It can be eaten fresh, cooked, or juiced.
It is often used in desserts such as puddings, pies, and cakes. The juice from this fruit can also be used to make drinks such as smoothies and cocktails.
Our range of Cashew Nuts (Kaju)
The skinny skin is roofed in an exceedingly waxy, sleek coating. Because the fruit matures, it ripens to golden-yellow or red, generally varicoloured with a mix of each hue.
Beneath the surface, the yellow flesh is spongy, fibrous, juicy, and soft but additionally stringy.
It is very aromatic, with sweet, tropical flavours and an astringent style.
Several consider the fruit's flavour to be a combination of cucumbers, strawberries, mangoes, and bell peppers.
A double-hulled shell encases a reniform, inexperienced seed that is the raw variety of the well-known cashew nut.
It's necessary to note that the shells contain harmful substances that, if touched, may cause irritation and a rash on the skin.
Therefore, care and a bar should be taken to handle the raw shell.
Seasons/Availability
It is on the market in tropical climates year-round.
Current Facts
It grows on evergreen trees that may reach fourteen meters tall and belong to the dicot family, together with mangos.
Additionally, in Central America, it is referred to as the Cashew apple or Marañón. Cashew fruit is considered an accessory or false fruit, which suggests that it doesn't contain the plant's seeds within the flesh.
The actual fruit is the shell containing the cashew seed connected to the top of the Cashew apple.
Our Collection of Cashews
It is usually overshadowed by the illustrious seed, erroneously known as a nut within the business market.
It is discarded because of its highly putrescible nature, typically left on the bottom as animal feed.
In some countries like Africa, Brazil, and India, there has been a revivification in reducing garbage.
Therefore, the fruit has become a secondary supply of revenue through the process of juice.
It is also oversubscribed at native markets the same day it's harvested for cooking preparations. It is often wont to create jams, syrups, and preserves.
Nutritional price
They are a superb source of ascorbic acid and magnesium, which might promote tissue and bone growth. They also contain copper, potassium, and iron.
The fruit also contains fibre, which is why it is known as an organic process cleansing agent. Therefore, phenol juice is typically used to soothe sore throats.
Applications
It can be consumed raw.
However, the juice within the flesh is usually terribly astringent and unpleasant to several customers.
The flesh is popularly sliced into terribly acceptable pieces to reduce its fibrous texture. It is then seasoned with salt to eliminate the astringent flavour.
It is ordinarily poached or simmered into jams, preserves, and chutneys, steamed to reduce its bitter flavour, candied, or added to curries, soups, and stews.
Additionally, the juice could be a favourite ingredient in smoothies and cocktails to intensify the flesh.
It's important to note that the juice will stain clothing; therefore, care should be taken when juicing the fruit.
Cashew fruit pairs well with strawberries, mangoes, blueberries, coconut, spinach, kale, and cinnamon.
When the fruits fall from the tree, they spoil for several hours. Therefore, for the best flavour, they should be used directly.
Ethnic/Cultural information
One of the foremost standards for this fruit is to ferment the flesh and method it into alcohol.
In Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, and Orissa, India, the fruit is used to create feni, a sturdy alcohol made of mashed flesh and hard juice distilled multiple times.
The fruits are generally trodden by foot to press out the foremost quantity of liquid as attainable before the fermentation method.
In India, Mozambique, and the United Republic of Tanzania, the fruit of the cashew is also turned into a potent liquor in numerous ways.
Geography/History
Tropical regions of northeast Brazil it is native to and has been growing wild.
They started exporting seeds and increasing the number of cultivated trees in Africa and Asia.
The trees continued to unfold across the tropical climates and grew wild outside cultivation.
These days, it is found in fewer quantities at native markets in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and other geographic regions.
The cashew is native to northeastern Brazil.
Portuguese missionaries took it to various geographical areas and Asian countries throughout the late sixteenth century, wherever it became abundant at low altitudes close to the shore.
The tree produces wood that is useful in native economies for such practical things as shipping crates, boats, charcoal, and a pack of gum that resembles gum acacia.
The rosin within the fruit shells is employed as a pesticide and within the production of plastics; it is also necessary for ancient medicines.
The cashew apple is employed regionally in beverages, jams, and jellies. However, most cultivation is directed toward producing the precious seed crop.
Cashew elements should be handled with care by inclined people because they are associated with poison ivy and poison sumac.
They cause an aversion in some individuals.
The plant might grow to twelve meters (40 feet) tall wherever the soil is fertile and, therefore, with high humidity.
The leathered leaves are spirally organized and elliptical.
The recurvate fruit that isn't a natural nut is formed as a massive thick bean and might reach over a pair of 0.5 cm (1 inch) long.
One of its ends has been forcibly ruined into the cashew apple, a pear-shaped swollen stem (hypocarp).
The cashew apple, an adjunct fruit (e.g., not a natural fruit), is about three times as massive because the actual fruit is chromatic or yellow.
Verity fruit has two walls or shells.
The outer shell is sleek, thin, and somewhat elastic. It is green until maturity, when it becomes pale brown.
The inner shell is durable and should be cracked like buggy shells to get the seed within.
Brown oily rosin is made between the two shells and might blister human skin.
The cashew apples are picked by hand; the recurvate fruits are initially detached and then preserved.
In some localities, the dried fruits roast amid burning logs, where the warmth causes the outer shells to burst open and unleash the caustic rosin.
The rosin quickly catches the heart, producing fumes that may harm the eyes and skin.
In improved ways of cooking, the toxic properties are dispelled in cookery cylinders.
Later, the inner shells are broken open by hand, so the kernels are heated to eliminate the taste.
Harvesting cashews could be a protracted method. First, every cashew apple comes with precisely one cashew seed.
Imagine the number of apples you get in creating one snack jar of cashews! Every cashew needs to be fastidiously removed from its shell and cleaned well.
The cashew's shell, a fruit, is toxic and might cause illness if ingested. Simply touching the body will burn your skin!
The apple is employed in several countries to create jams and juices, an ingredient in some curry dishes.
Cashews are generally farm alternatives, like cashew milk, and are usually deep-fried in stir-fries or ingested by themselves.
Have you ever ingested cashews? If, therefore, you recognize they will be a tasty snack. You'll be happy to grasp they're additionally sensible for you.
That's right! Cashews are an excellent source of several vitamins and minerals that may help keep individuals healthy.
Do cashew trees grow wherever you live?
If so, you may acknowledge them by another name. In Brazil, they're known by the Portuguese name caju.
Regardless of the name, cashews are one of the tastiest snacks around! However, most communicative countries consider them marañon. In Venezuela, they're known as merely.
Have you ever tried Amba Wadi?