Kaju curry is a restaurant style delicious recipe of a creamy kaju butter masala with a rich, tangy, sweet flavorful gravy made with cashews, tomatoes, cream and spices

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cashews (- 120 grams (kaju))
  • 1 tablespoon butter (or oil)
  • 1.5 cups chopped tomatoes (or 3 large or 4 medium-sized ripe red tomatoes)
  • 1 tej patta ((Indian bay leaf))
  • ½ cup water
  • 18 to 20 cashews
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (or 1 inch ginger + 3 to 4 garlic cloves - crushed to paste in a mortar-pestle)
  • 1 or 2 green chilies (- slit)
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder (or deghi mirch)
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • 2 to 3 tablespoon light cream (or cooking cream or low fat cream or 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream)
  • ⅔ to ¾ cup water (or add as required)
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar (or add as per taste)
  • 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (crushed (dried fenugreek leaves))
  • 1 to 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (for garnish)
  • salt (as required)

Method

Sauteing cashews

  1. First heat 1 tablespoon butter or oil in a pan. Make sure that the butter does not brown. So melt the butter on a low heat.
  2. Then add 1 cup cashews (120 grams).
  3. Stir and saute the cashews till they become golden on low to medium heat. Remove them in a plate and keep aside.

Preparation for kaju curry

  1. In the same pan, add 1 tej patta and saute for a few seconds.
  2. Then add roughly chopped tomatoes and ½ cup water. About 4 medium or 3 large tomatoes. Stir well and simmer the mixture till the tomatoes soften.
  3. When the tomatoes are simmering, take 18 to 20 cashews in grinder or blender and powder very fine. If fat is released while grinding or blending the cashews, then its alright.
  4. Remove and keep the ground cashews aside.
  5. Meanwhile, the tomatoes have softened. Switch off the heat and allow the tomatoes to become warm or cool down completely.
  6. Discard the tej patta and add the tomatoes in the same grinder or blender jar in which we ground the cashews.
  7. Blend the tomatoes to a smooth puree. Keep aside.

Making kaju curry

  1. In the same pan in which we sauteed the cashews and cooked the tomatoes, melt 2 tablespoons of butter on low heat.
  2. Add ginger-garlic paste. Stir and saute for some seconds or till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
  3. Add the cashew powder. Stir and mix very well.
  4. On a low heat, keep on stirring the cashew powder, so that it cooks uniformly.
  5. Stir till the color of the cashew powder changes to a pale light golden and you get a nice aroma.
  6. Then add the tomato puree. Stir and mix very well.
  7. Saute the tomato puree for about 4 minutes on a low to medium heat.
  8. Then add kashmiri red chili powder or deghi mirch. Stir very well.
  9. Then add ⅔ to ¾ cup water or as required. Stir and mix again.
  10. Add 1 to 2 slit green chilies.
  11. Simmer the curry for 3 to 4 minutes on a low to medium heat.
  12. Then add the sautéed golden cashews. Stir to combine.
  13. Season with salt as required. Simmer the curry for a further 2 minutes.
  14. Lastly add garam masala powder, light cream and crushed kasuri methi.
  15. Stir again till the entire cream is mixed well with the kaju curry. Switch off the heat.
  16. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve kaju masala curry with tandoori roti, naan, chapati. You can also serve it with jeera rice or veg pulao.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.