How to cook tender cashews (Bibbo in Konkani)
Bibbo aka tender cashews are a coastal, seasonal favourite. They're used in desserts, savoury dishes, side dishes, curries etc, possibly in everything in the coastal regions during their season. Here's how to cook them below.
How to cook tender cashews totally depends on how they are, freshly peeled tender cashews, dried up tender cashews, sun dried tender cashews with peel on, stored in freezer for few months to a year etc.
If they're dried up tender cashews or sun dried or stored in freezer etc for any amount of time then they require 30 minutes - 1 hour of soaking in boiling hot water to soften them up before you cook them.
If tender cashews are freshly peeled here's what to do with them:
1. Give them a very good wash if required to remove all the mud on them.
2. Soak them in boiling hot water for 10 minutes if required to remove any mud sticking to them & also to get any mature fresh cashews soft before cooking.
3. If they're all very tender cashews, wash & cook them in boiling water straight away with salt on medium heat until they become soft.
4. Time taken to cook depends on how tender or mature, how fresh or dried they are.
5. Remove one out, check how soft it is to check if it's cooked.
6. Strain out all the water, cooked tender cashews are ready.
How soft they get also depends on how the tender cashews were stored, how fresh they're, how tender or mature they are.
Tender most, freshly peeled cashews stored in fridge - become creamy soft.
Mature, freshly peeled cashews stored in fridge - become soft enough to enjoy.
If sun dried with peel on, stored in fridge for few days, stored in freezer for days - cook just enough.
Watch this video to know what I mean:
What tender cashews look at each stage:
Freshly peeled tender cashews after wash:
Freshly peeled tender cashews after cooking:
Sun dried tender cashews:
Peeled, cooked tender cashews:
Peeled, cooked tender cashews, halved:
Ready to go into dishes.
Snacking on tender fresh cashews:
We absolutely love snacking on freshly peeled tender cashews cooked with salt while they're steaming hot. Peel them one by one & pop them in. Evening, late evening snack with family. So much so that we fought over who got extra cashews while we were kids, also sneaked away some from each of elders shares, so much so that our granny had to hide away some for uncles who came home late at night, so much so that granny that to divide tender cashews into equal numbers for each family member. Called paal galche in Konkani. She divided them into small heaps of cooked tender cashews & we happily sneaked away 2-3 extars from each heap. You get the drift, that was our love for these.
They taste even more great after a few hours of cooking. We would keep some cooked tender cashews with peel on to eat after a few hours of cooking at night or the next day morning.
Bibbo dishes, tender cashew dishes of GSB Konkani cuisine:
Tender Cashewnut Side Dish (Bibbe upkari)
Spicy potato sidedish (Batate Song , Potato and onion in spicy red masala)
Vegetables in coconut milk (Valval)
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