Devilled cashew nuts

"Devilled" comes from the late 18th century and usually refers to foods cooked with spicy ingredients, mostly chillies or mustard. The most common of these is devilled eggs, but you also have deviled ham and some other classics. The term was derived from the historical depiction of the devil, usually painted red with flames around him. This leads to the old thought that these foods are from the devil because of their fieriness. A second and more controversial theory is the fact that chillies are tropical plants and hence discovered through various colonization efforts from Europe. Since the locals were usually darker in colour, this was a derisive term to the locals, and the spiced foods were thought to be from these "devils", as it were.

Today's hot sauce bottles and super spicy food labels still pander to this old concept. They are usually printed in bright reds, with flames and depictions of the devil on the labels. Spiciness has been associated with the devil, and this trend is embedded in food culture today, though not with a bad cultural reputation.

This is a simple recipe made with cashew nuts. However, you can substitute any nut or mix of nuts to suit your liking. The recipe is simple, but be careful not to burn the chilli when you add it. You must take the pan off the stove as soon as you add the chilli and toss the nuts and chilli in the residual heat.

This is an amazing cookbook, so much so that I rarely now go to the other Sri Lankan cookbooks on my shelf. It is a gorgeous cookbook, from which I have cooked at least half the recipes, every one spectacular. I believe the attention to detail makes this book special, including recipes for every spice blend.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil

2 cups cashew nuts, raw or roasted

15-20 curry leaves

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder or flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt, optional, only if you are using raw unsalted nuts

Heat the oil in a frying pan or shallow wok till very hot. Add the cashew nuts and fry till golden, tossing them continually so that one side of the nuts does not burn.

Add the curry leaves and toss well. Take the pan off the heat and add the chilli and salt, if using and toss well. You want to be careful not to burn the chilli that happens very quickly. Serve after 5 minutes, after the cashews have cooled and crisped up again.