Whole Cashews (W240)

Whole W240 cashews from Panruti, Tamil Nadu, raw and unsalted, sold by weight in a 500 g pack.

W240 is a count grade, not an adjective: whole white kernels at roughly 220–240 kernels to the pound, which puts them among the larger sizes sold at retail. The grade tells you the kernels are whole (W), pale ivory (white), and of a stated size — the three things that decide a cashew's price and that a "premium" label leaves out.

Raw and unsalted, so they taste of cashew rather than of oil and salt. Sealed in opaque packs against the harvest and sold from a single lot, never topped up with smaller or broken grades.

Panruti is India's best-known cashew-processing district, and buying there means a short chain between the shelling yard and the pack.

For cashew curries, kaju katli, for roasting at home to your own salt, or for eating raw.