Roasted Coconut Cashew Nuts

Cashews are my favorite nut.  And once upon a time we had some amazing cashews at an Indian restaurant named Dhaba in NYC.  The cashews were flash-cooked with chilis and spices and called tale huay kaju.  They were amazing - slightly charred, spicy, and totally delicious.  They were the perfect snack.  After eating the cashews at Dhaba I stumbled across a recipe for Roasted Coconut Cashew Nuts in one of our Thai cookbooks.  I knew right then we had to make them.  And it took us a little while, but we finally got around to it this weekend.  The cashews were yummy.  They weren't as good as the version we had at Dhaba, but they were a fun snack.  Alex said that they weren't amazing, but then again, we couldn't stop eating them.  They had some spice, some richness from the coconut and the cashews themselves, and a little sweetness from the honey.

Recipe after the jump!

Roasted Coconut Cashew Nuts

The Food and Cooking of Thailand

By Judy Bastyra and Becky Johnson

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp peanut oil

2 tbsp clear honey

2 cups cashew nuts

1 1/3 cups dessicated (dry unsweetened shredded) coconut

2 small fresh red chilis, seeded and finely chopped

s&p

Heat oil in a wok or large drying pan and stir in the honey.  After a few seconds add the nuts and coconut and stir-fry until both are golden brown.

Add the chilis, with s&p to taste.  Toss until all the ingredients are well-mixed.  Serve warm or cooled in paper cones or saucers.