Walnuts Info
By: Anonymous
Published: Sunday, February 14, 2010 - 9:06am

Preparation

1 A veritable heaven on earth is how emperors and poets have described the flower laden valley of Kashmir in north India. Walnuts are a speciality of the region Kashmiri furniture made of polished walnut wood is world famous and the abundance of the nut has promoted a lavish regional cuisine. Tourists are plied with mounds of walnuts laid out on square cloth sheets in the mild alpine sunshine. 2 How they growWalnuts are the fruit of a tall tree which grows in Europe and India. French walnuts are well known as are Kashmiri walnuts. Before they mature the fruits are called green walnuts. They have a fleshy casing called the shuck. As the fruits mature the shuck toughens. In India walnuts are picked when mature and dried in the sun. 3 Appearance and tasteDried walnuts are 23cm in diameter round rough and woody in appearance. The hard brown shell can be cracked open with a nut cracker or with a heavy pestle. Inside is the crinkled brown nut which resembles the human brain. It has 5 sections and breaks easily. Walnuts have a distinctive nutty aroma. Fresh walnuts are pleasant and easily digestible but dried ones are difficult to digest because they have a very high fat content. They also have a slightly bittersweet after taste. If kept for a long time they turn bitter and rancid. 4 Buying and storingIt is best to buy wholewalnuts as they turn rancid quite quickly if exposed to air. Keep them in an airtight container or in the refrigerator for up to 4 months. Look for glossy shells that sound full when shaken. 5 Other usesWalnuts yield an excellent oil used as a cooking medium and for salad dressings. Pure oil is extracted cold from diced walnuts as heat pressed oil is inedible. Walnut oil has a pronounced nutty flavour. 6 Culinary usesWalnuts are an excellent dietary substitute for meat and are highly regarded by vegetarians. They are not used extensively in indian cookery due to their bitter flavour. They are ground and used in sweets and rich meat curries. Chopped finely they are used as a garnish over Kashmiri pulao. Walnuts are used widely in cakes biscuits bread and ice cream.