The blooming Indian palate

Edible flowers are witnessing a resurgence across the country, as traditional recipes are rediscovered and new experiments get carried out. The Indian culinary world might have embraced the concept of edible flowers fairly recently, but they have been a part of traditional Indian cuisines since the very beginning. Be it blossoms such as hibiscus, roses and jasmine ( mogra ) or foods like banana, cucumber and pumpkin in their flowering stage, Indian cuisine has had regional flowers being fried into fritters, steamed into teas and cooked into gravies for aeons.

Recently, however, these floral ingredients have stepped beyond the humble walls of grandmas’ kitchens, taking their place in the menus of upscale restaurants and the tables of young Indians.

Floral resurgence. Raka Chakrawarti, founder and CEO of online retail store Gourmet Delight, notes a sudden surge in interest in such ingredients. “Demand from bakers and chefs has been consistent for the past two years, but it’s only now that these flowers are finding their way into households,” she says. Chakrawarti says, “People have started waking up to the health benefits.”

Namita Jatia’s Panvel-based organic urban farm, The Farmhouse Company, has also seen a steady rise in demand for edible flowers. “We supply mainly to clubs, organic cafés and five-star hotels in Mumbai. Our clients order them up to three times a week.”

While The Farmhouse Company supplies different varieties of flowers, Gourmet Delight’s offerings comprise a mix of either seasonal flowers, or blossoms such as basil, chamomile and hyacinth. “Customers call to learn how to prepare them and understand what each is good for,” Chakrawarti says.

Variety is key

Home chefs like Guwahati-based Kashmiri Borkakoty, however, can reel off a long list of flowers and the recipes best suited to each, without pausing for breath. “Hibiscus, rose, rosella, moringa , basil, cucumber flowers... there is one called heron flower, which is made into fritters. Pea flowers are had as a drink,” she informs, adding, “The night jasmine can be had as a curry, as fritters, or askhar .”

A quintessentially Assamese palate cleanser, khar can also be made with the regional tita flower. Made with water filtered through the ash of a banana plant, this alkaline dish is a regional staple, and marks the start of traditional meals. In Bengal, the blossoms of banana and onion are used as any vegetable would be, with a host of recipes, or just cooked along with fish. Pumpkin flowers are popular as fritters.Says Mumbai-based food writer Ankiet Gulabani, “Pumpkin blossoms are available this season — January and February, and also for a short while post monsoons.” He says onion and pumpkin blossoms are quite versatile, and recommends using them in dried shrimp preparations.

Indian to the fore

“I want to see more and more Indian flowers being used, like marigold for instance,” he says. He proceeds to wax eloquent about the use of rose petals in Sindhi food, his grandmother’s recipes being favourites. You don’t always have to approach gourmet farmers to source them, either. Dried rose petals are available in plenty at local grocery stores, he informs.

Bottoms up

It’s not all about food: certain flowers add a great touch to drinks as well. While chamomile or jasmine — or even hibiscus — in tea is nothing new, blue pea flowers have started turning heads because of the dramatic touch they lend to cocktails.

“Aparajita flowers have quite a bit of alkaline content, and when you bring it into contact with lemon juice, it changes colour,” says Swayampurna Mishra, food blogger and food stylist. “It’s a nice, healthy way to add colour to your drinks and food,” she adds, describing how she played with the ingredient at a Christmas party. “I served the lemon juice in separate test tubes, telling my guests they could add it to their cocktails as and when they needed. Every time they did so, the colour would change from blue, to a lovely purple, to red, and then pink. They were surprised every time,” she smiles.

The best part about the flower is its easy access. “It grows quite well in tropical climate; I have a huge shrub right here in my house, so I can use it whenever I want,” she says. Nothing quite like picking fresh flowers, and then tossing them into your food.