I covered dry roasted peanuts in that last article, noting how expensive they can be. Cashews have always been a hundred times worse – with peanuts, at least you get a few handfuls. A typical bag of cashews is likely to contain less than 20 nuts and cost at least twice the price of the peanuts!
You can buy raw cashews for as little as £1.15 per 100g if you buy 1kg bags, and all you need after that is salt (use sea salt because it has no additives).
In a saucepan, place ½ tbsp salt and about 100-150 mls of water. Bring to the boil and let the salt dissolve. Then add 500g of raw cashews. Stir to make sure that all the cashews are coated with the salt water and keep stirring carefully until the water is absorbed/evaporates. Remove from the heat and turn out on to baking parchment laid in a baking tray.
Place in a pre-heated oven (gas mark 4, 180°C, 350°F) for exactly 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, use a spatula to turn the cashews, or simply tip them into the baking tray. Don’t exceed 20 minutes, as they burn easily.
Take the tray out of the oven and allow the nuts to cool to room temperature. Store in airtight containers or bags. They will – or should, if you didn’t over-cook them – look like those in the photo above.
If you think they’re too salty, use half the amount of salt next time. And if you just want to roast them, do everything outlined above but without the bit where you add salt!