Lotus - food

Lotus is a wholly edible species and is cultivated as a food plant in China, Japan, Hawaii, India and Korea. It is prized mainly for its crisp rhizomes and seeds, though the flowers and leaves are also eaten in some areas.

How it is eaten

A photograph of dried lotus leaves on sale in Leicester.
In South Asia, lotus leaves are eaten like vegetables.

In India, the rhizomes, seeds, leaves and flowers are eaten to some extent. The rhizomes are roasted or dried and sliced. They are used in curry, soups or fried as chips. They are also pickled or can be frozen and used as an ingredient in pre-cooked foods, and a kind of thickening powder may be prepared from the fleshy rhizomes.

The fruits are sold in Indian markets for the edible seeds embedded in it. The seeds are removed of their outer covering and embryo, which is intensely bitter. They are sweet and tasty and may be eaten raw, roasted, boiled, candied or ground into flour.

Young leaves, leaf stalks and flowers of lotus are eaten as vegetables in India. Its seeds are roasted to make puffs called 'makhanas'.