A flowery touch to flavours

Edible flowers give a distinctive and eye-catching aesthetic accent to foods and beverages, writes Nimish Bhatia

Red hibiscus-scented chicken drumsticks with garlic basil aioli. PHOTO BY AUTHOR

Trio of drumstick palya with Mysore masala dosa. PHOTO BY AUTHOR

The aroma of food is essential to any gustatory experience since it gives the flavours a sensual undertone.

Flowers are a wonderful addition that raise the aesthetic appeal, emotional impact, and pizazz of a dish. All ingredients, whether they are visible or not, add flavour and distinctiveness to the finished dish. Because flowers are so delicate and prone to wilting, they must remain raw and undisturbed in order to be eaten in their original state. Similar to rose or hibiscus, which have beautiful colours and potent, alluring scents, it can also be used for its flavour or colour profile.

It can be used in syrups or in compotes like gulkand is used in paan. Then again, there are some that do not have strong flavour profiles or colours like the banana flower, and drumstick flower but can be used in curries. Some like chamomile, jasmine or lavender have strong fragrances but are low in their freshness profile and are thus used in their dried or preserved format with teas.

For a very long time, flowers have been used in India for sherbets and other drinks. The Mughals and the Rajputana used rose as gulab, Tamil Nadu’s cuisine uses banana blossom as vazhapu, and Mochor Ghonto is a classic cooking ingredient for a variety of cuisines. Not just in Kashmir, but all over the world, saffron has been scoring top marks. It is thought that the Nawabs, Mughals, and other Muslim dynasties in this region adopted the usage of flowers in cooking from Persian and Arabic cuisine. Rare flowers were produced on the palace grounds, and their scent was transformed into pricey perfumes, some of which were used in the palace kitchen. Infused waters with kewra, orange blossoms, saffron, and musk were also employed. Many of the monarchs’ or courtiers’ texts from India include recipes that have been flavoured with a variety of flower elements.

In addition to fragrant spices, an ancient Indian cookbook attributed to monarchs from the Mahabharata includes several dishes that use edible flowers, such as nagakesar or ironwood flowers. One of these recipes calls for cooking rice and pork in ghee and coconut milk while adding fragrant flowers like ketaki, camphor, and musk. The usage of flowers in cuisine is also discussed in the 11th-century Karnataka text Lokopakara. A dish called chuchhuroti, which is flavoured with ghee, sugar, edible camphor, and aromatic palmyra blossoms, is mentioned in the culinary traditions of mediaeval Karnataka. The flame of the forest, also known as tesu ka phool or palash flowers, has an intriguing formula. There are recipes for pickles prepared with horseradish flowers and mango flowers, meat cooked in a pit whose walls have previously been scrubbed with various types of flowers, and blue water lilies that are packed with simple boiled rice, wrapped with a string, and cooked in a pot.

Before using, flowers such as frangipani, nasturtium, daisies, or those used in salads should be soaked in cooled water, while dried flowers can be cooked or softly roasted to bring out their flavours.

Flowers will replicate the love in chefs’ cuisine when they celebrate their love affair with food. And like humans, gods enjoy a fragrant meal too.

Malliphula pakhala, which is cooked rice combined with curd and jasmine flowers, as well as other pakhala types like subas pakhala or subasita pakhala, which are fragrant with jasmine, mogra, frangipani, and ginger, are offered to the revered Lord
Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha.

Fresh flowers and floral food infusions are quite fashionable right now. Flowers were frequently used in desserts and salads, but now it’s more for main dishes and quick bites. Because only a very small number of people use edible flowers in cooking, it is difficult to find them and it is crucial to make sure they are chemical-free. This is the main issue with utilising edible flowers.

(The author is an award-winning chef, mentor, maven & master of food & beverage with over three decades of experience in leading world-class hotels & restaurants across the world.)