CASHEW (KASUVANDI-PARANGI ANDI) Dearfriends,
Yesterdaywhile I was purchasing a few items from the nearby large supermarket, I foundcashew in packets applying salt and pepper. The price was high, still a purchased asmall packet. Normallywe used to get cashew after removing all skins and roasted applying salt and mild red chillipowder in supermarkets and bakeries. It would appear yellowish-brown. Thesecashews are served in office meetings 5-7 per member as snacks with coffee/tea. Ihave read elsewhere recently, without roasting cashew should not be consumed. Cashew not roasted ispoisonous. Inour home we had a cashew tree, after keeping few for home use, remaining wassold in the weekly market in my boyhood days. Price was fixed depending on the size.It was a tall tree of about 10 feet in height in our compound. Ihave seen in Nagerkovilside cashew tree growing breadthwise, cashew could be plucked mostlyby hand, trees grows to a height of 6-7 feet maximum. Thespecialty of the cashew fruit is it has the seed/nut outside. Within thekitchen cashew is used for payasam (puddings) preparation as an added item, roasted and added.Especially in semia, milk payasams. Uppumait is added so that it adds to taste. In few occasions I had eaten kanchipuramiddali added with cashew (cut and added). In restaurants it is added in Halwaand Laddu.Special vadai may be added with cashew. Manybiscuits are coming added with cashew. Though in advertisement they show a lotof cashew, on purchase we would see cashew bits here and there in the biscuits. Duringmy boyhood days, fully ripen cashew fruit is cut and eaten. Very late I understoodit is used in the production of liquors. I have visited a small factory in Hournear Bangalore, where after washing cutting the fruits mechanically andcrushing the juice and fermenting.Fermented juice is transported by vehicles to liquor companies. Duringmy student days, we could get raw cashew in shops, we had to burn, take outseed and use in dishes mentioned after removing outer thick and thin skins. Ihave read in later days the story “Kasinettu” became cashew is some body’s imagination. Thereare many cashew factories in Kerala at Quilon. Mostly they get seeds from Tamilnadu,other countries and states. Procuringfrom Kerala trees is a small percentage now. The oil coming from theouter skin on heating is used in industrial purposes. Let me continue with moreinformation about cashew. Sincerely, GopalaKrishnan 3-5-2021. 1. Introduction TheCashew (Anacardium occidentale) is a tree in the flowering plant familyAnacardiaceae. The plant is native to northeastern Brazil, where it is called by its Portuguese name Caju (the fruit) or Cajueiro (the tree). It is now widely grownin tropical climates for its cashew "nuts" and cashew apples. Itis a small evergreen tree growing to 10-12 m tall, with a short, often irregularlyshaped trunk. The leaves are spirally arranged, leathery textured, elliptic toobviate, 4-22 cm long and 2-15 cm broad, with a smooth margin. The flowers areproduced in a panicle up to 26 cm long, each flower small, pale green at firstthen turning reddish, with five slender, acute petals 7-15 mm long. 2. about cashew fruit Whatappears on the tree to be the fruit of the cashew tree is an oval topear-shaped accessory fruit or false fruit that develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower. Itis called the cashew apple, better known in Central America as"marañón", it ripens into a yellow and/or red structure about 5–11 cmlong. InKerala and Tamilnadu we get two varieties, either the fruit is yellow or red. Yellow fruit is sweeter The true fruit of the cashew tree is akidney or boxing glove shaped drupe thatgrows at the end of the pseudo fruit. Actually, the drupe develops first on the tree,and then the peduncle expands into the pseudo fruit. Within the true fruit is asingle seed, the cashew nut. 3. Cashew seed Althougha nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the cashew isa seed. However, the true fruit is classified as a nut by some botanists. The seed is surrounded by a doubleshell containing a caustic phenolic resin, urushiol, a potent skin irritanttoxin (also found in the related poison-ivy). 3.1 Cashew allergy Somepeople are allergic to cashews, but cashews are a less frequent allergen thansome other nuts. The seedmay be used only after removing brown colour skin 4. Grade Specifications for IndianCashew Kernels CashewExport Promotion Council of India has made classification of cashew nuts. Whileexports are made they are binding to by firms. 5. Origin of Name The English name ‘cashew’ is derived fromthe Portuguese name of similar pronunciation, ‘caju’,which in turn comes from the Tupi-Indian word ‘acaju’. Since the Portugese(Parankies) brought cashew to India, it is called Parangi Andi. InVenezuela cashew is called ‘merey’, but in all other Spanish – speakingcountries of Latin America it is called ‘maranon’, which may be derived fromone of the first regions where the fruit was seen, viz the State of Maranhao innorthern Brazil. 6. Cashew history Casheworiginally belongs to Brazil, found well at home in Indian peninsular soils,and got exploited to the maximum benefit towards improving the rural economyand as a premier crop of Indian commerce. Thetree establishes itself easily and by men and animals may have increased itsgrowing area even in pre-historic times. It is likely that Spanish sailors havetaken the nut to Central American countries and certain that the Portuguesebrought the cashew to their territories in the East Indies and Africa. Itmay be assumed that cashew came to Goa, Portugal’s main settlement in the EastIndies at a time, between 1560 and 1565. It is believedthat the Portuguese brought the cashew to India, between 1563 & 1578. AfterIndia it was introduced into South-Eastern Asia and, according to Agnoloni andGiuliani (1977), it arrived in Africa duringthe second half of the XVI century, first on the east coast and then on thewest and lastly in the Islands. The cashew later spread to Australia and someparts of the North-American Continent. Finally, its present diffusion can begeographically located between 31ºNorth latitude and 31ºSouth latitude, both asthe wild species and under cultivation. 7. Cashew apple Somemake from the apples a beverage, though the fruit itself is scarcely edible,having an unripe flavour. At the base of the fruit hangs a sort ofnut, with the shape of a kidney. As to the kernel therein, it isexcellent to eat. There are many factories processing beverages and liquorsfrom cashew apple after fermenting the juice. Mynote- Our kidney though shaped like cashew nut is a bigger organ to the size ofclosed fist. I have studied in zoology class. Normally,kidneys are about the size of a fist or 10 to 12 cm (about 5 inches) Thecashew apple is used for its juicy but acidic pulp, which can be eaten raw orused in the production of jam, chutney, or various beverages. Dependingon local customs, its juice is also processed and distilled into liquor orconsumed diluted and sugared as a refreshing drink, Cajun. In Goa, India, the cashew apple is the source of juicy pulp used toprepare fenny, a locally popular distilled liquor. The cashew apple contains much tanninand is very perishable. For thisreason, in many parts of the world, the false fruit is simply discarded afterremoval of the cashew nut. 8. Kerala cashew factories Originallyspread from Brazil by the Portuguese, the cashew tree is now cultivated in allregions with a sufficiently warm and humid climate. India, Vietnam, and Brazil, in that order, arethe largest producers of cashew kernels; collectively they accountfor more than 90% of all cashew kernel exports. One of the finest varieties of cashews come fromKollam or Quilon in Kerala, South India which alone produces 4000tons of cashews per annum. A number of cashew factories are in Quilon, Kerala. 8.1 Removal of urushiol Theurushiol must be removed from the dark green nut shells before the seed insideis processed for consumption; this is done by shelling the nuts, a somewhathazardous process, and exceedingly painful skin rashes (similar to poison-ivyrashes) among processing workers are common. In India urushiol is traditionally used to control tamed elephants byits mahout (rider or keeper).The so-called "raw cashews" available in health food shops have beencooked but not roasted or browned. 9. Uses of cashew Cashew nuts are a common ingredient inAsian cooking. They can also be ground intoa spread called cashew butter similar to peanut butter. Cashews have a very high oil content,and they are used in some other nut butters to add extra oil. In anoff-the-shelf package of cashews found in the United States, a 30-gram servingcontained 180 calories (750 kilojoules), 70% of which was fat. In south India cashew nuts are used infried rice, vegetable biriyani, payasam, vadai, sweets like laddu, Halwa, andabove all it is a bakery item Friedchilled and salted cashew used to be served along with tea and coffee in houses(when guests arrive) and parties and meetings. 10 Cashew oil Theliquid contained within the shell casing of the cashew, known as Cashew Nut ShellLiquid (CNSL), has a variety of industrial uses, which were first developed inthe 1930s. CNSL is fractionated in a process similar to the distillation ofpetroleum, and has two primary end products: solids that are pulverized andused as friction particle for brake linings, and an amber-colour liquid that is emanated to createphenalkamine curing agents and resin modifiers. Phenalkamines are primarilyused in epoxy coatings for the marine and flooring markets, as theyhave intense hydrophobic properties and are capable of remaining chemicallyactive at low temperatures. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/95785024.2271428.1620026354295%40mail.yahoo.com.
