Soaked Kaju and Pista (Cashews, Pistachios): Worth Soaking?

Should you soak cashews or not? Soak them when you’re cooking, and don’t bother for health. Soaking kaju and pista is about texture: it turns cashews into a silky cream for korma and dairy-free sauces, and lets pistachio skins slip off for a bright green kulfi or sharbat paste. Nutritionally, a soaked cashew is just a wetter cashew. Here are the soak times, the slimy-cashew problem, the fridge rule, and why salted or oddly bright pista should never go in the soaking bowl.

Soak cashews or not: the honest verdict

People soak almonds for a reason, because the hard, dry kernel turns juicy overnight and the bitter brown skin peels away, but cashews and pistachios don’t have that problem: a cashew is already soft enough to bite easily and has no tough skin to remove, and a pistachio kernel is small and tender to begin with.

So what changes?

• Texture: the kernel absorbs water and blends into a smooth cream instead of a gritty paste.
• Phytic acid: a plain-water soak lowers it only slightly, not enough to matter for most people eating a normal mixed diet.
• Calories, protein and fat: no change at all. Water adds weight, not nutrition.

Soaked cashews on an empty stomach aren’t better than dry ones. Enjoy them softer? Fine. But if you’re soaking them only because a reel promised that it “activates” the nut and makes every nutrient easier to absorb, you can save yourself the bowl, the fridge space and the washing up.

How long to soak cashews (and what happens if you soak them too long)

1. Measure the cashews you need, say 1/2 cup (about 70 g) for a sauce that serves four.
2. Rinse them under running water to wash off dust and broken bits.
3. Cover with cool drinking water by about 3 cm. Soak 2 to 4 hours.
4. In a hurry? Pour just-boiled water over them and leave 20 to 30 minutes instead.
5. Drain, discard the soaking water, and rinse once.
6. Blend with fresh water: 1/2 cup soaked cashews to about 1/2 cup water gives a thick cream; add more for a pouring sauce.

Longer doesn’t help. After about 6 hours at room temperature, and much sooner in a hot kitchen in June, cashews go soft all the way through, the surface turns slimy under your thumb, and the water starts to smell sour or faintly cheesy, which is fermentation getting going. Soaking ahead? Use the fridge. Then use them within 24 hours.

Blended cashew cream keeps 3 to 4 days in a covered jar in the fridge. For using it in a korma, and for the difference between raw and roasted cashews in curry, our kaju guide, raw vs roasted and korma paste has the method; it isn’t repeated here.

How long to soak pistachios for pista paste

Pistachios wear a thin purple-brown skin over a green kernel, and removing it is what gives good kulfi and pista sharbat their clean, vivid green. Keep it? Muddy khaki.

1. Take plain, unsalted, shelled pistachios, 2 tbsp (about 20 g) for a family batch of kulfi or sharbat.
2. Pour just-boiled water over them to cover. Leave 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Drain. Pinch each kernel between finger and thumb; the skin slides off.
4. Grind with 2 to 3 tbsp milk into a paste, or chop finely for garnish.
5. Use the same day, or keep covered in the fridge for a day.

Want soaked pistachios as a snack instead? Soak unsalted kernels in cool water for 2 to 4 hours. Softer bite. Same nut.

Salted pista and bright green pista: don’t soak these

Salted pistachios

The roasted, salted pista sold in shells for snacking isn’t meant for soaking at all, because water turns them soggy, doesn’t wash out enough salt to make them anything like unsalted, and can’t undo the roasting that stops them grinding into a good paste. Buy plain kernels. That’s the whole rule.

Colour-dyed pista

Natural pistachio kernels are a mix of green and yellow-green with a purple-brown skin. Be wary of kernels that are the same shocking green all over, colour that rubs off onto damp fingers, or soaking water that turns bright green within minutes. Those are warning signs of added colour. They don’t prove it, since only a lab test can, but they’re reason enough to change shops. Sweet shops also sometimes stretch “pista” garnish with dyed peanuts or melon seeds. Our pistachio guide on raw vs salted and storage covers buying and storing properly.

Calories per 5 pieces, and a fair portion

A handful for most adults means about 10 to 15 cashews or 25 to 30 pistachio kernels a day, soaked or dry. Cashews are easy to overeat because they’re soft and sweet, and a korma thickened with half a cup of cashews carries around 400 calories from the nuts alone, shared between four plates. Not a problem. Just worth knowing.

For grades, black spots and broken kaju for cooking, see cashew grades W240 and W320 explained.

Surprising facts about kaju and pista

• A cashew grows on the outside of a fruit called the cashew apple, hanging below it in a hard shell.
• That shell holds a caustic oil related to the one in poison ivy, and mango belongs to the same plant family. So even “raw” cashews in the shop have been steamed or roasted to remove the shell safely.
• Pistachio shells split open by themselves as the nut ripens. In Iran a split pistachio is called the “smiling” pistachio.

For more everyday kitchen answers like this, browse our Desi Remedies section.

Soaked cashews and pistachios: your questions