• Take a medium bowl and mix together all ground spices along with salt and sugar. Taste the masala, it should be sharp and on the salty side, adjust any spices to your liking. Set the masala aside.
• In a heavy bottom cooking pot or kadai, add about 3 cups of oil for deep frying.
• Heat up the oil on low medium heat, it will take about 4-5 minutes. We don't want the oil to be very hot else the cashews will burn.
• Adding the cashews when the oil is warm (not hot). Add the cashews all at once or you can do so it in batches. It is okay to overcrowd the oil, since the nuts are dried, they won't become soggy.
• Once the cashews have been added to oil, let the cashews slowly fry in oil, keep on stirring in between so that they dont burn. Slowly the cashews will heat up and start getting crispy. Do not turn up the heat, it takes 7-8 minutes to fry up the cashews but this way they are properly crisped.
• Once the cashews are visibly light brown or pinkish brown in color, using a slotted spoon, take them out in a bowl. Tap the slotting spoon on the side of the pot to remove as much oil as possible when you are taking out from the oil. Do not drain on a paper towel else masala won't stick to them.
• Immediately, while the cashews are still warm, start adding the masala, I start by adding about 2 tablespoons at first and mix nicely with a spoon to coat all the cashews in spices.
• Taste and add more masala if you wish. You might have leftover masala, you can store it and sprinkle it on anything - from chaat, kababs to salads to pakoras.
• Let the cashews cool down and store them in an air tight container for up to 3 weeks.

Baked Version

• Alternatively, add cashews to a baking tray. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoon of oil and rub it nicely over the cashews. Make sure that the cashews are in a single layer.
• Place the tray in the oven and bake at 400F for 6-8 minutes or until pinkish brown. Keep an eye since they burn easily.  Toss in the masala as specified above.