New Delhi, Aug. 16 -- I took my first bite of a raw pecan and thought-this is exactly what you'd get if a cashew and a walnut had a baby. Pecans take the best from both: the sweet butteriness of a cashew and the earthy nuttiness of a walnut.

Until now, my encounters with pecans had been in pecan pies or a brownie, but this is one nut that scores a perfect ten, even when raw and untoasted. It also has an inherent crisp texture that avoids one of the most annoying traits of most nuts when eaten raw-that tendency of getting stuck between your teeth.

For years, nuts have been high on the shopping list of Indians visiting the US-and I'm clearly not alone in thinking so. When I asked my Instagram audience what tops their "must-buy" list from ...