Cashew Curry

I am new to Indian foods, recently trying a few frozen organic, vegetarian meals that have been delicious. I especially enjoy Paneer and was wondering if it could be exchanged with the Tofu in this recipe, should I decide to make my own? Great recipes, I enjoy your blog. Thanks so much~

love love love the coconut cashew curry! Thank you so much for sharing the magic of your cooking. It is truly my favorite grad school procrastination to visit your site!
thanks again!
xoxox k8 in mpls

I am looking forward to trying this recipe, in particular the curry. I traveled in Sri Lanka years ago and loved the food. Thank you for sharing – I find Sri Lankan recipes hard to come by in the states… Recently I had pizza with caramelized cauliflower florets on it. It was so tasty…one of the best pies I’ve had…but I digress. I want to try to master the use of cauliflower, first in this curry. I have been enjoying your recipes in Germany, making some substitutions when I can’t find all the ingredients here. Thank you for your beautiful website and ideas!

I love the yellow color! Is this anything similar to Thai yellow curry?
P.S. I’ve always been a silent fan of your blog but never left a comment… 🙂 Great photography!

I made this curry tonight. It was a big hit. I have been wanting to try coconut milk but couldn’t think of what I wanted to do with it. Now I know. I used less curry powder because the one I have is very hot. My husband loved it and said he wouldn’t mind having it tomorrow too. Thanks.

Heidi, Before Cooking 101 it was hard to stay on track. Stuff like your Cashew Curry totally bypasses all my cooking/eating “issues” and takes me straight to HAPPY…why would I do anything else? Thank you! One question re: curry powder…I was taught to kind of “toast” the ground powder in the pan first and then add ingredients…should I not do that if I make your powder? Thanks.
HS Hi Katy, thanks for the nice note. Because I pre-toast the spices before grinding them (in this instance), I don’t pan-toast them. But it really depends on the curry powder you are using.

2009 Resolution, learn to cook: And last night, I made this curry! And it was delicious. Now if I can just figure out what to do with that 3/4 head of cauliflower left in my fridge… not an ingredient I’m used to using. As a warning to other curry neophytes, I bought a TBSP of curry powder at my local co-op, thinking I would use the small called for measurement and the dish would be relatively mild on the spice-o-meter. Wrong, my eyes were on fire…!!! But it was still delicious! Thanks for the inspiration and a recipe easy enough for a newbie!

This looks like a real pleasure. I can’t wait to try it at home! Thank you.

I love curry but found out last year that I have a garlic allergy. It’s been really tough to find pre-made curry powder without any garlic in it so I am really looking forward to giving this a try. Also, just realized I am reading this post while eating my leftovers of your tasty frittata recipe – which my husband declared one of the best things he’s ever eaten! Thanks for all of your amazing recipes – I second any and all of the posters with food allergies and sensitivities who rely on your cookbook to find healthy and delicious foods – they are lifesavers!

I can’t wait to try this! I have a purple cauliflower in the fridge and some sugar snap peas. Just wondering whether I can add a sweet turnip or some kabucha squash as well…
One thing, though: I’d cook the tofu in the coconut milk & spices a little longer, I think. It soaks up the flavor so beautifully!
And for the commenter who suggested non-vegetarians use chicken, I still recommend tofu! My husband is a meat-eater, but orders tofu in every curry dish because of the way it gets infused with flavor.

What a great recipe! Even my anti-curry husband inhaled it. I used chickpeas, carrots, potatoes and peas b/c that’s what I had here– so different from your ingredients, but they worked perfectly on a snowy night. Thank you for providing such a delicious recipe framework.

I made the curry for dinner today, with frosen beans and frosen broccoli, and it was fantastic!
Thank you from (frosen) Norway!

I can almost smell that, the photos are so vibrant! Good hearty recipe too!

Love this recipe. The ground masala sounds fantastic – my suggestion would be to add a peppercorn or two. Also, I’m curious how cooking the garlic and onion in coconut milk instead of sauteeing them would taste. Thanks for another tasty recipe, Heidi.

Hey all!
I’ve been a reader forever and I absolutely love it – thanks Heidi for such an excellent and quality website.
For the spice issue, my mom has been doing this forever and I never realized what she was doing until recently – she would toast whole cumin seeds (maybe like a pound of it in a huge skillet) and after it cooled a bit, she would pulverize it in our blender until it would become this soft, powdery fluff. She would sprinkle this on any curry dish for a finishing smoky flavor.

This curry powder recipe sounds great. Nothing can beat making your own. And using fresh spices really makes such a difference. I love cauliflower and curry, such a lovely pairing.

Wow, reading Amy’s post at 9:54 put such a smile on my face.
jenn, I use a coffee grinder for my spices and it seems to work just fine. Never used a spice grinder though. May be better?
Thanks Heidi for the great recipe and your spice blend. Love curries — the best way to use up a bunch of veggies!

i agree that a can of coconut milk is a pantry staple! i love curries and usually lean toward the thai influenced ones but this recipe looks delicious – thanks!

Made the curry this evening and it was really lovely. Since you weren’t splitting hairs about the authenticity of your curry blend, I went a step further and added kaffir lime leaves instead of cilantro. Perfect! Thanks for sharing!!

Wow … this sounds (and looks) fabulous! I can’t wait to try it! And thank you for including the curry powder recipe.
Small Footprints

Out of curiosity, Heidi, what kind of spice grinder do you use? I’ve been using a cheap $15 coffee grinder for a while, but it really does have its problems.
HS: Hi Katie, mine is a Krups that I have been using for a few years – I couldn’t find the exact model when I went to link to it on Amazon though. It does a pretty good, but you can definitely smell the motor on some of the tougher jobs 😉

Looks fab! I love curry, and love your ideas for new recipes, Heidi. I’ll be out to the market this week for the ingredients I’ll need to whip it up (already have the coconut milk.. yipee!)

Yum! I’m always on the lookout for a good curry recipe, this one sounds wonderful, especially the coconut milk/cashew combination…and as always, a beautiful photo.

Coconut milk makes everything taste wonderful and creamy. Doesn’t matter what it is!

WOW! I am on a curry kick lately…just finished a bowlful of curried fruit. I can’t wait to try this! I love everything in the recipe…it only makes sense to eat all of it together!

I’m wondering if a coffee grinder would work for grinding spices?

I forgot to add to my note about coconut milk, that there is a lot of pulp left over after mixing it, so the milk needs to be strained. Also, if you want to add any cream, it’s better to do it after straining, so none is wasted.

This looks fabulous, I love cashews. I need to incorporate more tofu into my diet, this looks like the perfect way to start!

I would never have thought of toasting the cashews. That just ups the flavor so much more and is the main reason I’m drawn to the dish. But then I look at the curry sauce and I want it right now.

Love this combo—- for the non-vegetarians, I might try this with chicken in place of tofu too.
Your blog is great—I refer lots of people to it all the time!

I LOVE curry, and cashews are my favorite! This recipe is perfect. Thanks for sharing!

I’ve been thinking about using some of my curry – this looks wonderful because I love cauliflower!
One thing I’ve discovered – I can make coconut milk from shaved coconut. I mention this because it is hard to find coconut milk from a store shelf that doesn’t have any gums or additives. Although it takes preparation, you can soak the coconut shaving in water to get coconut milk. I’ve never used a fresh coconut, but that could be interesting and tasty!

Perfect mix of flavor, spice, and delectableness.

Love it! A bit of this, a bit of that. Good homemade food!

Just a note about coconut milk. I’ve been making it by blenderizing raw, unsweetened, shredded coconut and water. You can get it as rich or light as you like by adjusting the proportions of coconut and water, as well as removing or incorporating the oil (a lot of which separates on the blender’s walls. the excess can be saved and used for anything you’d normally use coconut oil for.) Also, adding a but of half and half or plain silk creamer makes it very yummy too. The best thing about it–it’s about 50 times less expensive than canned cocomilk.

I loooove curry. I bet some chickpeas would be delicious in this. I normally use light coconut milk, but I have noticed that it tends to separate when you cook it. Is that the reason you call for whole coconut milk in this recipe?

Your recipes and pictures always look fantastic! I love curry, but have never actually made it myself since no one else in my family likes it and I have also been a little intimidated. I will definately be trying this recipe though- Thanks!

Wonderful! These are items I always have on hand too. I make curry powder at home, but hadn’t thought to toast the spices first, great idea!

Everything looks so yummy. Can’t wait to try one them. You will be hearing from me soon. My husband loves to try new recipes too.
Denise

Oh this looks yummy!!! I will definately be making this! num num num

I love your recipes – everything I have made from your book and blog has been fantastic and many have become regulars in our house! A couple of questions about the homemade curry powder (I have never done this but am often disappointed by store-bought blends): What variety of dried chiles do you prefer? Do you split them open and remove the seeds or toast and grind them whole? Thank you!

I am such a huge curry fan…this looks great! I usually keep the Thai curry paste from Hot Sour Salty Sweet in my freezer, but this powder looks like a nice twist on my usual.

I can smell the curry just by the picture. Thanks for sharing.

I’m very fond of coconut milk curries and that’s an interesting sounding powder mix. I often used toasted cumin seeds (sometimes whole, sometimes ground) and ground toasted coriander seeds in Indian-style recipes and just love them!

Sounds wonderful. I love green beans in a curry, and the cashews are a great addition. Can’t wait to try this.

It looks delicious. A very coloured and hotty dish, excellent for this cold season
kisses

I just had curry last night and wished I had thought to put cashews in it! I have leftovers so I’ll spruce up tonight’s version. Love the color of red onion and green bean in a deep yellow curry.

Yum. My favorite curry powder recipes come from “Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking” by Julie Sahni. The Bese bele is absolutely incredible. I like to prepare the whole spice blend, let it cool, and store it pre-ground, grinding right before I use it. I’m overdue for a good curry….

This looks and sounds amazing! I love curry and haven’t made it in months as I was without all my pots and pans for our overseas move. My goods come in tomorrow…this is on the menu for the weekend. Thanks for posting a recipe with 2 of my fave eats…curry and cashews!

yum! making your own spice blends fresh makes such a difference! also, my local health food store has garam masala cashews that i always have on hand to snack on, perfect for this recipe too..thanks heidi

Heidi- I am a chronic pain patient. Recently I became a whole foods vegetarian because of several studies indicating that such a dient reduces pain. I have used your recipies and your cookbook so much that my husband asks whether we’re “having Heidi for dinner?!” I just wanted to let you and your readers know that my pain has gone from an 8 on a 1-10 scale to a 2 based on this diet. I have also gone from almost daily migraines to 2 a month. Thanks for helping me make the transition to whole foods eating so easily. We have organic local veggies delivered weekly and I plan our menu based on your recipies and Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Thanks so much.
Amy

Mmmmm… thanks for this lovely recipe!

I loooove curry. I bet some chickpeas would be delicious in this. I normally use light coconut milk, but I have noticed that it tends to separate when you cook it. Is that the reason you call for whole coconut milk in this recipe?

I love your site and love cashew curry – have been looking for a recipe. As a sri lankan in the bay area, I’m delighted to see it on your site. Thank you so much!
Meera

I love curry! This is such a wonderful, easy recipe and is a perfect winter meal. Thanks for sharing your curry powder recipe; I usually use store-bought curry, but I hope to give your version a try – it’s always so much more satisfying when you make everything yourself from scratch 🙂

The perfect recipe for whats in my fridge. I’m going to make a couple changes to it but nothing too drastic. (i.e. omit cauliflower)
Thanks!

Love curry 🙂

I am working as a cashiier in Talkinfish Restaurant Islamabad. I saw a recipie And Transferred to the Chef. He was very hapyy with the recipie.
We are thankfull to you
Please keep it up

Wish I would have had this for that gorgeous orange cauliflower I had last week!
I’m fussy about my curries…looking forward to trying this one to see if it will beat out some old favorites! Cauliflower’s a good start! I love it paired with potatoes and greens.

Curries with coconut milk are my absolute favorites–and this one looks divine. I’ve made curries with home-ground spices before, but never mixed up my own curry powder in a big batch, to store for later, before. Must try this one!

I like adding some vegetable stock along with the coconut milk – it seems to add a depth of flavour which lifts the entire curry.
Caramelised leeks in butter are another nice addition.

Looks so good… love that it has coconut milk and tofu. You always have the most wonderful recipes and I don’t feel guilty using them because they’re so healthy.

LOVE curry – this looks fantastic! I really want to try it especially for my husband. I suppose you can make it less spicy by going easy on the chiles, right?

hi heidi!
i have been loving your book for awhile now but recently went through it with serious attempts at making more of your recipes. i have to say this is the best cookbook i have ever bought (and believe me i have A LOT!) i made the bean burgers (and changed up my second batch a bit) to rave review from my family, as one example. i love your blog as well and just want to tell you thanks so much for all your awesome ideas!!!