When I was growing up in Delhi, my mother regularly deep-fried cashews for us in a karhai (wok). She would scoop the nuts up from the hot oil with a slotted spoon and leave them to drain on a crisp sheet of brown paper—the same kind she used to cover our schoolbooks. My father ate them with his evening whisky-and-soda and the rest of us nibbled on them with our soft drinks. I have now taken to roasting the cashews instead. Nothing could be easier.

　　

Ingredients

makes 1 cup and serves 6¿8 with drinks

　　1 cup (5 1/2 ounces) raw cashews

　　1 teaspoon olive or canola oil

　　1/2 teaspoon salt

　　1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

　　1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

　　

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F.

　　

Step 2

Line a small baking tray with foil and spread the cashews out in a single layer. Dribble the oil over them and toss them well so the oil clings to them like a film. Sprinkle the salt, cumin, and cayenne over them and toss thoroughly again to mix. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 12–15 minutes, tossing and mixing every 4–5 minutes. Leave to cool off and firm up before serving.

　　Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.