Lotus seeds or lotus nuts are the seeds of plants in the genus Nelumbo, particularly the species Nelumbo nucifera. The seeds are of great importance to East Asian cuisine and are used extensively in traditional Chinese medicine and in Chinese desserts. The seeds are most commonly sold in the shelled and dried form. Fresh lotus seeds are relatively uncommon in the market except in areas of lotus root and seed production, where they are sometimes sold as a raw snack. Raw lotus seeds are low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and are a good source of protein, thiamin, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and manganese.
In India, the dried seeds are called "Makkhane" in Hindi and they are used to make makkhane ki kheer, a type of milk pudding. In Manipur, theNorth-East Indian state, lotus seeds are locally known as thamchet and are eaten raw.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_seed
(1) Makhana/Lotus Seeds ( dried ) : 100 grams
(2) Chopped Almonds : 1/2 cup
(3) Chopped cashews : 1/2 cup
(4) Raisins : 1/2 cup
(5) Common Salt: 1/2 tea spoon
(6) Cumin Powder : 1/2 tea spoon
(7) Red Chili powder : 1/2 tea spoon ( or as required)
(8) Black Pepper powder: 1/4 tea spoon
(9) Dried Mango powder : 1/4 tea spoon
(10) Coriander powder : 1/4 tea spoon
(11) Black salt : 1/2 tea spoon
(12) Curry leaves : 8-10 in number
(13) Green chilies : 1 or 2
(14) Ghee : 2 tea spoon
(1) Kadahi/Wok/Pan for Frying : 1
(2) Spatula : 1
(3) Knife : 1
(4) Small bowl : 1
(1) Check if the Makhana is clean or not, this you can do by cutting each Makhana/Lotus seeds into half with the help of Knife and look inside it. If its clean then you can also use it as a whole.
(2) Heat the Pan/Kadahi and add all the powders including the salts and keep stirring with the help of Spatula for a minute and then remove the roasted powders from Pan into the bowl. Take care that they are not burnt.
(3) Add Ghee to the heated Pan and put curry leaves, green chilies, cashews and almonds into it and stir for a minute.
(4) Immediately after a minute add Makhana and Raisins into the Pan and keep stirring on the medium flame.
(5) After 2-3 minutes add the roasted mixture of powders/salts prepared in step 2 and keep stirring for 3-5 minutes on the medium flame until you can feel that the Makhana has turned little crispy pink from the yellowish white color.
(6) Remove from Flame and serve hot.
(7) Once it cools down you can also pack it in a air tight container and use as evening snacks with tea/coffee.
This can be stored for a month if packed in Air tight container.
(1) Cutting Makhana into half will also help it to absorb more fragrance from powders/masala.
(2) As we have added chopped cashews/almonds so there are chances that they get burnt while the end of preparation so stir well throughout the process of preparation.
(3) You can heat Makhana for 1-2 minutes just before eating if stored for long time. As it tastes awesome when hot compared to cold.
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