5 flowers to add a dose of taste, colour and health to your dishes

(Clockwise from top, left) Jasmine flowers, sunflower, rose, marigold and banana flower are all edible and can be used in recipes.

Jasmine

Known as the queen of flowers, Jasmine is used in the preparation of flavoured rice and tea. The flower is also used for preparing desserts like sorbets and crème brulée.

Sunflower

Best eaten when it is still a bud, sunflower tastes like artichokes. The flowers are also used in salads.

Marigold

Marigold has medicinal properties and is often used as an antiseptic. In India, it is often called as the poor man’s saffron. It is used to make marigold buns. The petals are excellent additions to salads and soups. They can also be used to colour rice dishes. Apart from using the petals in tarts, they can be soaked in warm milk to make desserts and confectionery.

Banana flowers

Also known as banana blossoms or heart, banana flowers are available throughout India specially in south India. A long and vagarious process is required for the cleaning of the flowers. Vazhaipoo vadai literally means banana flower fried dumplings. It is prepared by cleaning and chopping banana flower stamens, mixing with soaked and ground dal followed by the addition of desired spices. The dish is served with coconut chutney. Sliced banana flowers are used to prepare meat stews, stir-fries, soups and rice combinations.

Rose

Rose as a flower is versatile. It has been used in many forms including syrups, sauces, garnishes, soups, desserts, preserves, candy and vinegar. Rose tea, jam and candied rose petals are common. Rose water and powdered roses are used in Indian cooking. Rose water is often sprinkled on many meat dishes, while rose powder is added to sauces. The most popular use, however, is in the flavouring of desserts such as ice creams, tarts, kulfis, rice puddings and yoghurts. In North Indian cuisine, dried rose petals are used to make garam masala for making biryani. Another way to make biryani is to parboil the rice with rose petal water.