The Complete Guide to Dry Fruits: Grades, Origins, Storage and What to Actually Buy

Most dry fruit in India is sold by adjective. Premium. Special. Export quality. King size. None of these words mean anything, and all of them are printed on packets whose contents were graded by whoever tipped the sack.

The trade itself does not work this way. There are real grading systems — numeric, measurable, and enforced at the point of export — and once you know them, the packet either states a grade or it does not, and that single fact tells you most of what you need to know about who packed it.

This guide covers what the grades mean, where each nut is actually worth sourcing from, how long things keep, and how to tell fresh from old.

Part 1: The grades, decoded

Walnuts

Walnut kernels are graded by the percentage of whole halves in the lot. 36+ means at least 36% of the kernels are intact halves rather than quarters and fragments.

That number matters for a reason that is not cosmetic. A whole half has less cut surface. Cut surface is where walnut oil meets air, and walnut oil is roughly 70% polyunsaturated fat — the most oxidation-prone fat in the nut aisle. A broken-up lot goes bitter faster than a whole-half lot stored identically.

The bitterness people associate with walnuts is not what walnuts taste like. It is rancidity. A fresh walnut is sweet, buttery, faintly milky, with only a light tannic edge from the skin.

Where from: Chile and California produce the large, light-coloured, low-tannin kernels. Kashmiri walnuts are excellent but almost always sold in-shell and are a different eating experience.

Our version: Akhroat Giri 200gm — Chilean kernels, 36+ grade.

Almonds

Almonds grade by count per ounce — how many nuts it takes to make the weight. Fewer nuts means each one is bigger.

• Independence / Nonpareil 18/20, 20/22 — the large grades. What "bold" refers to.
• 23/25, 25/27 — mid.
• 27/30 and up — small.

Size is a proxy for oil content and for how long the nut had on the tree. A bold almond holds its fats internally; a small thin almond has proportionally more surface, dries out faster, and tastes flat.

Where from: California dominates for a reason — consistent grading, consistent moisture control. Australian almonds are comparable. Loose almonds of unstated origin are usually blends of several harvests.

Our version: American Almond Bold 250gm.

Related: Benefits of Soaked Almonds →

Cashews

The clearest grading system in the trade. W stands for white wholes; the number is cashews per pound.

• W180 — "king size". Rare, expensive.
• W210 — jumbo.
• W240 — large, and the practical sweet spot for eating.
• W320 — the standard supermarket grade.
• W450 — small wholes.
• LWP / SWP / BB — pieces, splits, baby bits. Fine for cooking, not for a bowl.

W320 is not bad. It is simply the grade most people have only ever eaten, which is why a W240 tastes surprising — larger, sweeter, with a denser bite rather than a chalky one.

Where from: Mangalore and the Konkan coast for Indian cashews; Vietnam and Ghana dominate volume. Indian coastal cashews are sweeter and less starchy.

Our version: Cashew Jumbo 250gm.

Pistachios

Graded by count per ounce and by how they were opened. Naturally split shells — where the nut grew large enough to force the shell open on the tree — are the mark of a mature nut. Mechanically split shells are not.

Where from: American (Californian) pistachios are large and consistent. Iranian pistachios are more intensely flavoured and thinner-shelled. Both are legitimate; they are different products.

Our version: Jumbo Salted Pista 250gm.

Figs (anjeer)

Graded by diameter and by count per kilogram. Extra bold is the largest tier.

Fig quality is mostly about sugar concentration and moisture. A good dried fig is pliable, not hard — it should give when you press it. Rock-hard figs have been over-dried or are simply old. A white bloom on the surface is crystallised natural sugar and is a good sign, not mould; mould is fuzzy and coloured.

Where from: Afghanistan produces the small, intensely sweet, light-coloured figs. Turkey produces the large flat brown ones. Afghan figs are the ones with the honey character.

Our version: Anjeer Extra Bold 250gm.

Makhana (fox nut / lotus seed)

Graded by diameter in millimetres, expressed in the trade as sutta sizes. Extra bold is the largest pop.

Makhana grading is unusually consequential because size correlates directly with how it behaves when roasted. A large, fully-popped seed roasts crisp all the way through. A small or partly-popped one stays chewy in the centre no matter how long you leave it in the pan.

Where from: Bihar — specifically the Mithilanchal belt around Darbhanga and Madhubani — produces the overwhelming majority of the world's makhana, and the best of it.

Our version: Makhana Extra Bold 200gm.

Raisins (kishmish)

Angoori refers to the small, round, seedless green variety — sharper and more acidic than the long golden Malayar type, and much better in cooking where you want the raisin to hold its own against spice.

Look for raisins that are still slightly translucent. Opaque, leathery raisins are old.

Our version: Angoori Kishmish 500gm.

Part 2: How to tell fresh from old

Grades tell you what was packed. They tell you nothing about when.

Every dry fruit on this list is high in unsaturated fat, and unsaturated fat oxidises. The process is invisible — a rancid nut looks exactly like a fresh one — which is why the industry can move eighteen-month-old stock without anyone noticing.

Smell it. This is the only reliable test. Fresh nuts smell faintly sweet, or of almost nothing. Rancid nuts smell like old paint, crayon, or putty. Once you have identified the smell once you will never miss it again.

Taste the finish, not the first bite. Oxidation shows up as a bitter or metallic aftertaste that arrives a second or two after you swallow. The initial bite can taste fine.

Look at the colour. Walnut kernels should be light tan. Dark brown, amber-edged kernels are old. Cashews should be ivory-white; yellowing means age or over-drying. Almond skins should be an even reddish-brown, not grey or patchy.

Check for the shrivel. Figs and raisins that have hardened at the edges while staying soft in the middle have been through a temperature cycle — warehoused badly, or shipped in an uncooled container.

The single most useful question to ask a seller is not "is this premium?" It is "when was this packed?" Most cannot answer.

Part 3: Storage

The four things that destroy dry fruit, in order of speed: heat, light, oxygen, humidity.

General rule. Airtight container, dark cupboard, away from the stove. Not a clear jar on the counter — light drives oxidation almost as fast as heat.

Refrigerate the high-fat ones. Walnuts and pistachios in particular. Walnuts kept at room temperature through an Indian summer will turn within six to eight weeks. Refrigerated, they hold for six months; frozen, a year, with no loss of texture.

Do not refrigerate figs, dates or raisins. They pick up condensation and go sticky and then mouldy. Cool cupboard, sealed.

Makhana needs dryness, not cold. It is essentially a starch sponge. Left open it goes leathery within days. Sealed with a silica sachet it stays crisp for months. If it does soften, five minutes in a dry pan brings it back completely.

Approximate shelf life, sealed and stored properly:

Once a pack is open, halve every number.

Part 4: What to eat daily

A reasonable daily mix for an adult, eaten in the morning:

• 5–10 almonds, soaked overnight
• 2–4 walnut halves
• 4–5 cashews
• 1–2 figs or a small spoon of raisins

That is roughly 200–250 calories and covers a meaningful share of the day's vitamin E, magnesium, plant omega-3 and fibre.

Two cautions worth stating plainly. Dry fruit is calorie-dense — a casual handful is 150 calories and the second handful arrives without a decision being made. And dried fruit specifically (figs, raisins, dates) is concentrated sugar; a fig is a fig with the water removed, which means the sugar per bite is several times that of the fresh fruit.

Nuts are food. They are not medicine, and no quantity of them fixes an otherwise poor diet.

Part 5: What to look for on a packet

A pack that is telling you the truth will state:

1. A trade grade — 36+, W240, bold, extra bold. Not "premium".
2. A named origin — Chile, California, Mangalore, Bihar, Afghanistan, Narmadapuram. Not "imported".
3. A packing date, not only a best-before. Best-before is a calculation; packing date is a fact.
4. An FSSAI licence number.
5. Batch-level testing for pesticide residue, aflatoxin and microbial load. Aflatoxin in particular is not optional — it is a genuine contamination risk in nuts and figs stored badly, and it is not visible.

A pack that states none of these is asking you to trust an adjective.

That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and it is the whole reason NutriBlend exists. Every pack carries its grade and its origin, and every batch is tested and sealed the day it is packed.

See the full collection →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between dry fruits and nuts? Nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios) are seeds eaten as-is. Dried fruits (figs, raisins, dates, apricots) are whole fruits with the water removed. In Indian usage "dry fruits" covers both, which is why the categories blur.

Are roasted or raw dry fruits better? Raw retains marginally more heat-sensitive nutrients. Roasting improves flavour and digestibility, and dry-roasting at home for a few minutes is better than buying pre-roasted-and-oiled, where you do not know the oil or the date.

Why do dry fruits cost so much more than they used to? Mostly harvest volatility and freight. Walnut and almond prices in particular track Californian and Chilean water conditions closely.

Is it worth buying dry fruits in bulk? Only if you can store them properly and will finish them inside the shelf-life table above. A kilo of walnuts bought cheaply and stored in a warm cupboard is a kilo of rancid walnuts by month three.

Can I eat dry fruits at night? Yes. The common advice to eat them in the morning is about absorption on an empty stomach, not about a risk at night. Soaked almonds and a fig before bed are a perfectly reasonable habit.