sri lankan lotus curry

This week I’m hosting Weekend Herb Blogging!!!

If you have a herb, vegetable, fruit or flower recipe then blog about it and join in the fun. For more info on the rules and instructions scroll to the end of this post.

For my part, my contribution this week is all about the lotus root.

I’d never cooked with lotus before and it always seemed like such an exotic ingredient with its beautiful patterned web and crunchy fresh texture. I’d seen it for sale, pre-sliced in packages but on a recent junket into Chinatown I saw fresh roots for sale. I think they were going for around $5 per kilo.

Nelum Ala Uyala (Sri Lankan Lotus Root Curry)
Anna’s version of a widely circulated internet recipe. Serves 2-4 as part of a banquet.
Ingredients:
110 grams lotus root
125ml coconut thick milk
1 tomato, chopped
4 snake beans, chopped into small rounds
1 green chilli, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½ red onion, finely chopped
6 fresh curry leaves
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
½ teaspoon Madras curry powder
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon paprika
Pinch of chilli powder
2 tablespoon ghee (or peanut/vegetable oil)
Method:
1. Wash and peel the lotus root then slice into thin circles, discarding the tough ends.
2. Heat the ghee in a pan and fry the onions until translucent and soft. Add the chilli, garlic and curry leaves and fry until softened.
3. Next add the ginger, chilli, fenugreek, turmeric, curry powder, chilli powder and paprika and fry until fragrant.
4. Now add the snake beans, tomato and salt and fry until the tomato disintegrates a little.
5. Next add the lotus slices and coconut milk and stir until combined.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve with rice.
Note: the lotus root will remain crunchy.

Nelumbo nucifera is also known as blue lotus, Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, and sacred water-lily. It was native to huge areas of land across South East and Central Asia and is used widely as a food and ornamental plant. The lotus is the national flower of both India and Vietnam.

If seeds are well maintained they should keep flowering and amazingly a 1300 year old seed was found in a dried up lake bed in China and was successfully germinated!

The plants roots take hold of the pond or river bed and the leaves and flowers float on the water surface. Every part of the plant is edible, whether it be the roots, leaves, petals or seeds.

The lotus root, or rhizome, contains large air pockets running through the length of the root in order to maintain buoyancy.

Lotus roots are fried into chips, used in curries and soups, stir-fried into vegetable dishes and even braised. They can also be eaten raw in salads, although the risk of parasites in some water means they should probably be cooked.

The Chinese believe that eaten raw, lotus roots cool the blood.

According to Wikipedia, lotus roots are "rich in dietary fibre, vitamin C, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, copper, and manganese and very low in saturated fat".

China: ngau, ǒu 藕
Japan: renkon,レンコン,蓮根
India: kamal-kakri, bhe
Indonesia: teratai
Malaysia: seroja
Philippines: baino
Sri Lanka: nelum-ala
Thailand: bua-luang

If you want to join Weekend Herb Blogging this week, the only rules are that:
1) posts must be for WHB only and not entered into other events (DMBLGIT and other photo events excluded).
2) posts must mention Weekend Herb Blogging and link back to the weekly host (this week it’s my blog!)
3) posts must feature a herb, vegetable, fruit or flower. Recipes are more than welcome and info on the featured ingredient would be great!
4) deadline to email the links are 3pm MST (which is -7 UTC/GMT) Sunday 9 March.
Send to morselsandmusings AT yahoo DOT com DOT au

Head back here for the round-up of everyone's recipes on Monday or Tuesday next week!

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_root
http://www.asiafood.org/glossary_2.cfm?wordid=3361
http://www.specialfoods.com/lotus.html

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes weekend herb blogging whb entrée starter main course curry nelum ala uyala lotus root curry lotus root lotus root curry recipes curry recipes lotus root recipes lotus recipes sir lankan recipes sri lankan food sri lankan cuisine