I had a longing for the Kaju curry dish for 16 years. Finally, I felt satiated when I could cook it myself at home.
Kaju curry is a dish prepared with pieces of cashews soaked in a semi-liquid gravy made of tomatoes, onions, and roasted cashews ground in a mixer to form a paste.
I was 19 years old when I first had it at a small Dhaba near Tower Chauraha in Indore, MP. I was a student then, and the dhaba was a weekend getaway for me. It was a taste-change from the routine home-cooked tiffin-like food I had during the week.
I do not recall accurately, but it was early 2004 when I last had the dish. I moved out of Indore in 2004. After that, I lived across three different cities. But never could find a Kaju curry dish that could help me cherish the same taste.
In the last two months, I tried cooking the same dish a couple of times following a recipe video on Youtube. My daughters loved the taste every time I cooked, but it was not even closer to what I had at the Dhaba.
Last week, at my third attempt, it satiated my taste buds fretting for years. The dish was prepared following a different video and following the steps exactly as mentioned in the video.
The gravy was delicious and light brown. The dish retained the flavor of each spice I added. And yes, it tasted that I was longing for so many years.