Name: Crispy Lotus Stem (Kamal Kakdi)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 250 g Lotus Root, kamal kakdi / nadru, thinly sliced diagonally and washed; 3 tbsp Corn Flour, for coating; 1 tbsp Rice Flour, for extreme crispness; ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper; ¾ tsp Salt, divided; as needed Cooking Oil, for deep frying; 1 tbsp Garlic, finely minced; 2 Green Chili Pepper, slit; 1 tbsp Soy Sauce, dark; 1 tbsp Red Chilli Sauce; 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup; 1 tbsp Honey, added off the heat; 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds, white til, roasted; 2 tbsp Spring Onion Greens, chopped

55 mintotal

35 min hands-on20 min hands-off

Prep 20 min · Cook 15 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Medium

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Method

Blanch the cleaned lotus stem slices for 5 minutes in well-salted boiling water to soften them slightly. Drain and dry them thoroughly with kitchen paper until no moisture is left.
5 min
In a large bowl, toss the dried slices with the cornflour, rice flour, black pepper and the first measure of salt. Every slice should be completely coated in the dry flour. Add a few drops of water only if the coating will not stick at all.
Heat oil for deep-frying to medium-high in a kadhai. Lower the coated slices in one at a time, keeping them apart so they do not stick together.
Fry for 4-5 minutes until the slices curl, turn golden brown and go glassy and crisp like a chip. Lift out and drain on absorbent paper.
4–5 min
Make the glaze: heat a little oil in a wide wok over high heat. Flash-fry the minced garlic and slit chillies, tossing quickly for about 10 seconds to take off the raw edge.
10 sec
Lower the heat. Add the soy sauce, red chilli sauce and ketchup to the wok. Stir continuously for 15 seconds until the sauce bubbles up and thickens.
15 sec
Turn off the heat completely. Fold the raw honey into the sauce as it cools, so its flavour and aroma are not cooked off.
Add the crisp lotus stems to the wok at once. Toss firmly so the sweet, spicy, sticky glaze coats every slice.
Finalize the architecture with an aggressive barrage of roasted sesame seeds and vibrantly chopped spring onion greens.
Service must occur with immediate urgency to halt degradation.

How to tell it's done

Require an absurdly loud, glassy, acoustic crunch analogous to a kettle chip, a structural rigidity that entirely mocks the thick, sweet-and-savory sticky glaze weighing it down.

Getting it right

Tip

Chef's Tip: Achieving absolute zero moisture inside the capillary holes of the boiled slices is the elite master trick. A single drop of residual internal water will detonate the crispness, rendering the slice hopelessly soggy the instant it hits the wet glaze.

What to serve it with

A restaurant-style appetiser worth making an occasion of. Serve it straight away, hot, as a bar snack on its own.

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Ingredients