Topic: Cashew powder for almond powder? Pre cooking pork?

[PlainPopcorn]

Dear whoever reads this,
I've been wondering about two things, namely how much of a difference it will make to use finely ground raw cashews in a korma recipe (for the family) in place of almond powder and what the best way is to cook chunks of pork for the same korma recipe?

About the cashew vs almond powder;
I have been buying almond powder from the asian grocery store but it has lots of added sugar in it and it doesn't help toning down the sweetness of the korma.
The only other place that sells ground almonds is very expensive and I'll be stuck with a bag of almond powder I won't be using in the short term.
I suppose I could buy a small amount of whole almonds but I already have a bag of raw cashews I could potentially use.
I'm planning to grind the cashews to a fine powder using a coffee grinder that I only use for nuts and spices.

The ground nut powder goes in at the beginning of the recipe so I assume the raw cashew powder will be completely cooked at the end. I could also dry roast them in a non stick tray in the oven before cooling them off and grinding them into a powder.

As for the pork chunks in the korma, I was planning on frying them in ghee in a separate pan and just adding them to the korma when both were done.
Is there a better way than that?

Any advice is appreciated,
Thanks for reading.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Can't help with the nuts aspects (don't eat nuts of any sort; loathe and detest them !) but as regards the pork I do not think that cooking separately will work -- the flavours need to infuse into the pork, which they can't do if it is seared and cooked separately.  What is your reason for not wanting to cook the pork in the korma sauce ?  You could always par-cook it (with spices, of course) separately in advance if you are concerned that it may not cook sufficiently in the sauce.

** Phil.

[PlainPopcorn]

Can't help with the nuts aspects (don't eat nuts of any sort; loathe and detest them !) but as regards the pork I do not think that cooking separately will work -- the flavours need to infuse into the pork, which they can't do if it is seared and cooked separately.  What is your reason for not wanting to cook the pork in the korma sauce ?  You could always par-cook it (with spices, of course) separately in advance if you are concerned that it may not cook sufficiently in the sauce.

** Phil.

My fears are that cooking the pork in the sauce will either make it tough or not cook all the way through. I've never timed the korma recipe but it's really quick, on high heat and has cold stuff added to it frequently until the end of the recipe.
I don't want to simmer it too long after everything has been added because I just do not know what it will do to the taste and texture. There's fresh fruit puree in there as well.
There's only one point in the recipe where you leave the sauce to simmer for a while but it's 3 minutes tops.
It could work if the cubes of pork were about 1 by 1 cm, but I think that's too small.

I could take your par-cook idea, but cooking it with spices will mess with the end flavour of the sauce which I've put so much time into getting right.
But I'm no expert so maybe you know a solution?
I can post the recipe if you'd like.

Thanks for lending your ear.

[ELW]

I doubt many people would notice a difference between almond and cashew in a curry

Regards
ELW

[PlainPopcorn]

I doubt many people would notice a difference between almond and cashew in a curry

Regards
ELW

Thank you,
that's reassuring.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I could take your par-cook idea, but cooking it with spices will mess with the end flavour of the sauce which I've put so much time into getting right.  But I'm no expert so maybe you know a solution?  I can post the recipe if you'd like.  Thanks for lending your ear.

I don't "know" a solution, but perhaps I can suggest one ...  Prepare the sauce as you would normally.  Then place the pork in the sauce and cook in a slow cooker until nearly ready.  Then prepare a second portion of the sauce, remove the pieces of pork from the first batch of sauce, wipe them dry with kitchen paper (or wash them quickly under the tap -- the idea is to get rid of the superficial layer of older sauce while still leaving the inside of the pork suffused with its flavours), then add to the new sauce and finish off as normal.  Just an idea, but it may work.  Also (a) KD uses cashews in her korma recipe, not almonds; (b) perhaps see http://thecurrysecret.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/pork-tikka-masala.html?utm_source=BP_recent for ideas.

** Phil.

[PlainPopcorn]

I could take your par-cook idea, but cooking it with spices will mess with the end flavour of the sauce which I've put so much time into getting right.  But I'm no expert so maybe you know a solution?  I can post the recipe if you'd like.  Thanks for lending your ear.

I don't "know" a solution, but perhaps I can suggest one ...  Prepare the sauce as you would normally.  Then place the pork in the sauce and cook in a slow cooker until nearly ready.  Then prepare a second portion of the sauce, remove the pieces of pork from the first batch of sauce, wipe them dry with kitchen paper (or wash them quickly under the tap -- the idea is to get rid of the superficial layer of older sauce while still leaving the inside of the pork suffused with its flavours), then add to the new sauce and finish off as normal.  Just an idea, but it may work.  Also (a) KD uses cashews in her korma recipe, not almonds; (b) perhaps see http://thecurrysecret.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/pork-tikka-masala.html?utm_source=BP_recent for ideas.

** Phil.

I would have never have thought of that, it's given me a good solution so I'll give it a go.
Thank you for the link.