The Culinary Institute of America's Department of Menu Research and Development

Mahesh et al. (2007, Journal of Food Service, 18, p80-85) describe research they conducted to determine the utility of cashew nuts, sesame, watermelon, and poppy seeds as natural emulsifiers, to create viscosity and body in curries containing lower fat levels.

For each of the seeds, Mahesh et al. measured emulsion capacity, emulsion stability, moisture, fat and protein levels. Each of the seeds were used in two types of curries: Bengal gram and mixed vegetable, prepared using traditional techniques. A sensory panel was developed to measure the complete sensory profile of the preparations, allowing for a quantitative comparison of the different seed based stabilizers.

Seeds and legumes proved to be effective emulsifiers, stabilizing curries by as much as 200% over the traditional preparation. However, legume emulsified sauces were scored lower by the trained sensory panel, when compared to the sauces emulsified using seeds. The sensory panel scored color, overall appearance, creaminess, and taste, of the cashew nut sauces significantly lower in the Bengal garam curry compared to the other seed stabilized sauces.

Interestingly, when the sauces were frozen for 1 month, the differences in sensory attributes changed. The Cashew nut emulsified sauce scored closer to the freshly prepared control sauce, than the other seed sauces, suggesting possible application in commercial scale production.