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Nadur Yakhni
April 26, 2007 | 28 Comments
Lotus Root in Yogurt Sauce
As explained here,
Elsewhere in the world, the phrase lotus-eaters may not be a compliment and suggests those dreamy-eyed creatures perpetually in a sensuous stupor oblivious of time, in India the lotus stem-eaters are reckoned as epicures.
These rhizomes are meaty, with a nuttiness and crunch akin to water chestnuts. They are very fibrous, with half a cup of cooked lotus root yielding 7% of one’s daily value of dietary fibre. Nutritional data.
Called nadur in Kashmiri, bhein in Punjabi, and kamal kakri in Hindi, it is a very versatile vegetable, and can be used the way potato is, in a variety of dishes. Crisp fried chips, lotus root with chickpeas, nargisi koftas (dumplings) made with lotus root and cottage cheese, and lotus root cooked with spinach are popular north Indian ways to consume this vegetable.
We prepared it the traditional Kashmiri way. Lotus root is available at Chinese or south Asian grocers. Replacing some of the yogurt in the recipe with low-fat sour cream prevents curdling.
This dish was a challenge to photograph. Focus on the Kashmiri embroidery instead.
Nadur/Lotus Root Yakhni
Adapted from Koshur Saal
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
- Half kg or 1 lb. nadur/lotus root
- 1 tsp. shahjeera (black cumin)
- ½ tsp fennel powder (saunf)
- 1 tsp ginger powder (sonth)
- ½ tsp cumin powder;
- 1 inch stick cinnamon;
- 5 cloves
- 4 small green cardamom;
- 2 big black cardamom;
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp oil;
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (hing)
- Salt to taste;
- 2 cups beaten yogurt (or half yogurt, half sour cream)
Method:
- 1. Cut lotus root into 2-1/2 inch long round pieces.
- 2. Boil it with 2 small and 1 big crushed cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, 1/2 tsp shah jeera and salt.
- 3. Boil/pressure cook it until tender (just over one whistle) in 2 cups of water until a fork pierces through very easily. Drain and keep aside.
- 4. Beat yogurt, sour cream, ginger powder, fennel powder, cayenne, 1 crushed black cardamom, cinnamon and cumin powder together in a bowl.
- 5. Take oil in a pan. Add mixture of yogurt to oil and sauté at a low heat for about five minutes until it gets to a thick sauce-like consistency.
- 6. Add it to the drained lotus root and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- 7. Crush the remaining 2 green cardamoms and the 1/2 tsp shah jeera in a mortar and pestle. Sprinkle it over the dish.
- 8. Keep it covered for a few minutes for the flavours to mingle.
- Serve with white boiled rice.
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Verdict
We were tempted to tamper with the original recipe, but didn’t. The dish has no chillies, green or red. The only heat is from the cloves and ginger. It is a very delicate blend of flavours – too delicate for our caveman palates. With taste buds that are toast from drinking scalding hot stuff, asking Bee to savour nadur yakhni is like playing Rag Bihag to a half-deaf mule. It smelt very good, like an aromatic raita (yogurt salad).
So we cooked down the yogurt with some cayenne, cumin and coriander powders, layered it between cooked basmati rice, fresh mint and chopped lotus root, baked it off, and a fabulous biryani was born.
___________________________________________________
Our entry for Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables at One Hot Stove for ‘N’.
This is also our entry for Alanna’s Vegetable Contest at A Veggie Venture, where she invites us to post recipes of vegetables we’re trying for the first time.
This is a great veggie, and we’ve resolved to use it more.
Other lotus root recipes:
Chinese fresh lotus root salad
Linda’s Lotus root pakoras (fritters)
Filed Under: black cumin, Dairy/Cheese, kashmir, kashmiri, Lotus Root, shahjeera, vegetarian recipes, yogurt
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28 Comments
Bee, you didn’t like it ?! It is one of my favourite ways to prepare nadur! And there are many other vegetables that can be prepared so – ghia/doodhi/bottle gourd, or bittergourd/karela, and even goat meat! Yummmmm!
I certainly liked the yakhni, and b did too…that was just b’s way of saying that she found another biryani recipe
so we r cooking kashmiri food han? after asha’s quite unusual nimbu masala i got to see another beautiful nadur dish. actually i have never tasted any food cooked with lotus root. so have got no clue as how it tastes and its texture.
hope its the second one…he he he… 
love that pic with kashmiri embroidery as backdrop. creamy Nadur Yakhni is well complimented with black and red background.
by the way whats those two smilies r doing? is the green one hitting the yellow one with its head or kissing?
by itself the taste is mild. it absorbs the flavor of the gravy well. when cooked it gets a creamy texture, but it still holds shape very well because it has some fiber. reg smileys – green one is trying to cheer up the yellow one (which is sad after taking the pic) ! –j
Bee, heard of the lotus root but have never tasted it. Does it have a texture like that of Celery Sticks?
in comparison to celery, i would say that lotus root would be more versatile. it has fiber but not fibers are not as long as in celery ( i would reckon that you could grate lotus root although i havent tried it, but grating celery is not going to be a pleasurable endeavor). when cooked lotus root remains more substantive – my opinion is that celery tends to get mushy very soon after it gets cooked, so if you dont cook it just right then you get pulp – but with lotus root you can work with it little longer. the water content in lotus root is also lower – so when cooked to a creamy texture it still retains a bit of the crunch. hope this helps. –j
Lotus roots look fabulous,never tries it though Bee!Looks like a watery and spongy veg.I don’t I will get it here.
Yakhni looks great though.RCI Kashmir will be hosted by Trupti,can’t wait to make something Kashmiri!:))
Oh, that embroidery! I want a Kashmiri Salwar Kameez now!
I have always been curious about Lotus root. To repeat ISG’s question How does it taste? It looks crunchy. Wonder if it retains that crunch after being cooked. It looks so pretty, dainty even, especially in that white sauce. Does it go brown on cooking?
Darn, I sound like my two year old who seems to have a never ending stock of questions.
doesn’t really go brown – but some coloration yes. have you cooked with banana stem – you could see the same change in coloration. it is a lot less fibrous than banana stem. also see replies to ISG and Sia. –j
Jai & Bee ~ Thanks for the lotus root inspiration. I actually see it occasionally at a wonderful little market that’s even within walking distance. And the embroidery, too! is quite lovely!!
I like the Verdict part…good one. never tried Lotus Root before..can’t imagine the taste
i Love Nadur yakhni
Lovely choice (and not because even i wanted to make it for Nupur’s A-Z, but didn’t find Nadur at all!) so am not sure what i’ll be doing now 
and i agree nadur is a great addition to biryani too. Kashmiri cuisine also has some sort of pakora made our of nadur.
Great entry folks
oh! and i forgot to add that you can make Palak-nadur or haakh-nadur also: they both taste pretty good
.
Wow! Bee we make chips, pakoras and a nice fry after marinating it with all the spices . It tastes yummy!!!
tx Dee. we’ll make exemptions in our no fry zone for these ones…sounds yummy –j
Ohh Bee…someone in my blog asked me for a recipe with lotus roots. Since I have never seen/tasted them, I thought people get weired ideas
. I didn’t know they are same as kamal kakri(I had seen this name in Sanjaav Kapoor’s site). Now I am going to hunt for this vegetable. Thanks a lot Bee.
Ah! Bee, i just recall that sometimes people deep fry the nadur pieces before cooking (instead of boiling, just like al-yakhni), for making nadur yakhni. i usully bake them. boiling is also good option, will make them this way next time i find nadurs. also just wanted to mention that Punjus make them with potatoes and matar or potatoes and what else, wadis
my third comment today…..but, with the topic being Nadur, i just cudn’t stop
Have a splendid weekend Bee n’ Jai.
tx musical. lot of versatility with the nadur…maybe we should make one of these other dishes for n and leave the yakhni for Nupur’s Y event
–j
I love pickled lotus roots. Yum!
I think these are available canned, too. I haven’t tried them so I don’t know what they are like though!
As for those two smileys…whatever are they up to and why isn’t the one at the back getting what he wants?
apart from distracting you from finding supposed flaws from the pic…the green one is trying to make the yellow one feel better ! –j
Bee, It looks wonderful. I have had this dish at a friend’s but I didn’t like it. It was long back and then I didn’t like a lot of things. I have not cooked with lotus roots. I will have to try too. Very new and fresh idea!
btw bee i would like to know what those smileys are upto?
see replies above
–j
I have never tried making lotus root ..Will surely try this one …This dish is so tempting …will surely try it out …Thks a lot bee
sia, reena, manisha, re: the cartoons, i know you have fertile imaginations. use it. – b.
‘asking Bee to savour nadur yakhni is like playing Rag Bihag to a half-deaf mule.’
what a funny way of explaining!!:)
bee wrote: “sia, reena, manisha, re: the cartoons, i know you have fertile imaginations. use it. – b.”
Green made yellow happy; but green ko kya mila?
Reena, kaunsa mission accomplished? Woh Asha-wala mission?
And me? Find flaws with your pictures?! Never! Kya zamana aagaya hai. tch! <shakes head and walks away wearily…>
manisha, the bhagvad gita says do good and don’t expect anything in return. tch! thought you knew that. from where can i download that irritating smiley of yours? – b.
and bee, K was also telling me that they stuff the lotus root with paneer to make some nice curry!!
I don’t read blessed books.
Which irritating smiley? They are all WP smileys. No need to download them. They appear automagically.
>>the way potato is, in a variety of dishes
Oh thank god someone told me this. I was always tempted to buy them, but had no clue how they tasted. Thanks a lot.
I have tasted lotus root pickle. But this looks good.. kinda like raita… decked up, tho
Wow, thank you for this – quite unique – I’ve only used lotus roots in asian (mostly chinese) dishes. And like you mentioned, fried it up with spices just like potatoes… this I have to try and find out for myself now – am intrigued
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