recipe
Cashew curry: Sri Lankan kaju maluwa
A mild coconut curry made with soaked unroasted cashews, with guidance on US nut labels, refrigerated soaking and cooking until tender.
AI editorial review: 2026-10-22
Researched recipe; not cooked or tested by Culinara.
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Ingredients and method
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (227 g) shelled, dried, unroasted, unsalted cashews, labeled raw in many US stores
- Water for soaking; 2 cups fresh water for cooking, plus more hot water as needed
- 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow or red onion
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 small green chile, slit lengthwise; optional
- 10 fresh or frozen curry leaves, rinsed
- One 2-inch piece pandan leaf, rinsed; optional
- One 1-inch cinnamon stick, preferably Ceylon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Sri Lankan unroasted curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste
- 3/4 cup unsweetened full-fat canned coconut milk, stirred smooth
Method
- Put the cashews in a clean bowl and cover generously with cool water. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at 40°F or below for 8–12 hours. Drain, rinse and cook promptly. Split the softened nuts into halves along their natural seam where possible; discard any visibly moldy or spoiled nuts.
- Put the cashews in a 2-quart saucepan with the onion, garlic, chile, curry leaves, pandan, cinnamon, curry powder, turmeric and salt. Add the 2 cups fresh water. The nuts should be just covered; add a little more water if the shape of your pan requires it.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cover with the lid slightly ajar. Check periodically, gently stirring along the bottom. Add hot water 1/4 cup at a time if the nuts are becoming exposed before they soften.
- Continue until a cashew half presses easily under a spoon and the center has lost its hard, crunchy texture. Nuts vary, so follow this check rather than stopping at a fixed time. If the nuts are tender but sitting in excess water, uncover and let some water evaporate before proceeding.
- Stir in the coconut milk and simmer gently, uncovered, until the sauce coats the nuts and the cashews are soft all the way through. Add a splash of hot water if the sauce thickens too far; stir carefully to limit broken pieces. Adjust salt and remove the cinnamon, pandan and whole chile before serving with rice.
AI-generated illustration: This serving illustration shows mostly whole cashews and larger onion pieces; the written method uses split cashews and finely chopped onion.
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Image details
Original text-to-image output proportionally resized to 960×960, JPEG-compressed; no crop or added content.
Buy unroasted cashews, not a snack mix
This method starts with the dried, shelled nuts sold as raw or unroasted. Roasted, salted or seasoned snack cashews bring a different flavor and texture. Fresh young cashews used by some Sri Lankan cooks also behave differently; they are not the product specified here.
Cashews are the main ingredient, not a garnish that can simply be left out for someone with a tree-nut allergy. Check packaged spices and coconut milk for your own dietary requirements.
Sources: [1]
Soak for texture, then cook in fresh water
Refrigeration matters during the overnight soak. Research on soaked nuts, including cashews, found that warm soaking can allow Salmonella to multiply. A cold soak is a growth-control step, not a way to sterilize nuts; this recipe goes on to cook them.
The water-first sequence lets you check the nuts before adding the rich coconut milk. If a nut still resists the spoon, keep simmering with enough water. Thickening the sauce early cannot make a hard center tender.
A mild version within a varied dish
Kaju maluwa is a Sri Lankan cashew curry, also written kadju or cadju curry. Roar’s Sinhala account places coconut-rich cashew curry on the Avurudu table. Recipes vary: Rishi Naleendra’s version includes peas and a fried finish, while Ruwanmali Samarakoon-Amunugama cooks the nuts in water before adding coconut milk.
This version uses the latter sequence with a small amount of unroasted curry powder. It does not include peas or a separate tempering. Serve modest portions beside rice and a sharper accompaniment such as wambatu moju or pol sambol.
Coconut milk and missing aromatics
Stir canned coconut milk before measuring so the cream and liquid are evenly mixed. Sweetened cream of coconut and refrigerated coconut beverage are different products. If pandan is unavailable, omit it; curry powder cannot replace a leaf’s aroma.
Use the linked curry-powder guide to choose an unroasted blend. A dark roasted powder will make a more assertive curry. This is a source-based adaptation that Culinara has not cooked; softness and sauce thickness need the checks in the method.
Store and reheat
Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow containers at 40°F or below, within two hours of cooking or one hour when the room is above 90°F. Use within 3–4 days. Reheat to 165°F, stirring and adding a little water to loosen the coconut sauce.
Research sources
- Roshani Wickramasinghe, Hungry Lankan — Sri Lankan Cashew Curry (checked 2026-10-22)
- Ruwanmali Samarakoon-Amunugama, Quench — Kadju Maluwa “Cashew Nut Curry” (checked 2026-10-22)
- Rishi Naleendra / Rachel Tan, Michelin Guide — Sri Lankan Cashew Curry (checked 2026-10-22)
- Roar Sinhala — කිරි කජු කෑම (Kiri kaju kaema) (checked 2026-10-22)
- Alexander W. Emch and colleagues — Salmonella Growth during the Soaking Step of “Sprouted” Grain, Nut, and Seed Production (checked 2026-10-22)
- FoodSafety.gov — 4 Steps to Food Safety (checked 2026-10-22)
- FoodSafety.gov — Cold Food Storage Chart (checked 2026-10-22)
- FoodSafety.gov — Cook to a Safe Minimum Internal Temperature (checked 2026-10-22)