EDIBLE STEMS
Lotus stems are high on nutrition and promote the production of red blood cells. Here are a few mouth-watering recipes...
KHATTI MEETHI TEEKHI MINAREIN
(One of chef's best innovative dishes, which earned him the spot of top finalist in Master Chef India Season Two)
INGREDIENTS
500 gm lotus stem, washed, peeled and grated 300 gm jimikand, cleaned and cut into ½ inch thick round slices Salt to taste Oil for frying 4-5 tbsp besan, roasted 3 tbsp red chilli powder 1 tsp saunf powder ¾ cup fresh cream ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated 2-3 sprigs dill leaves, finely chopped 1 tbsp jeera powder 1 tbsp coriander powder 2 tomatoes, seeds removed and finely chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 4 clove garlic, chopped 1 apple scooped roundels 1 pack aam papad
METHOD
In a saucepan, boil grated lotus stems. Once done, remove from water, pat dry, mash evenly and set it aside. Boil jimikand slices in salted water till it is 60 percent done and pat dry on a kitchen towel.
Heat cream in a frying pan on low flame, add the grated cheddar cheese, dill and salt and cook, stirring continuously till the sauce thickens. Remove from flame and keep it aside.
Separate aam papad layers and cut them into roundels. In a mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt and red chilli powder to make a salsa. In another mixing bowl combine boiled and mashed lotus roots with roasted besan, 1 tbsp red chilli powder, jeera powder, saunf powder and salt. Moisten the mixture with a little water and make ½ inch thick round flat tikkis. Heat oil in a pan and fry these
tikkis and jimikand slices till crisp and golden. Now in a frying pan, heat some oil and toss in the fried jimikand slices with ½ tbsp red chilli powder, remaining jeera powder, coriander powder and little salt. Toss well and keep aside.
To serve, make small bite sized towers with the tikkis, jimikand slices and aam papad. Separate these layers with salsa, put little cheese dill sauce on top and place a scooped apple piece as crown.
Important: Make sure that all the layers are the same size and shape. Use your imagination while arranging for serving. You should get the taste of all the layers in a single bite!