I love roasted nuts. And I love spices. So spicy roasted nuts are right up my alley. This recipe is an adaptation of a Spicy Cashew recipe in Meera Sodha’s Made in India Cookbook. As an aside, this is my most favorite Indian cookbook for easy, home-cooked Indian Food.

Ingredients:

8 oz raw cashews (I buy mine on Amazon. I recommend storing them in the freezer until use)

1 tablespoon Olive Oil (Harissa Olive Oil works particularly well)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F. Spread raw cashews in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake for 6-8 minutes, shaking once halfway. You want the cashews to be a light golden brown, so check on the cashews starting at 5 minutes. Once cashews are golden, remove from heat.

Place cashews in a bowl. Add olive oil, and stir to coat cashews evenly. Add paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper, and stir again until cashews are evenly coated. Wait until the cashews have completely cooled to enjoy.

At this stage, you can store these in an airtight container for a few weeks, but frankly, they’re highly addictive and probably won’t last that long anyway.

Alternate serving option: Top cashews with freshly cut cilantro and a splash of fresh lime juice