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Poppy seeds

Seeds

Poppy seeds

Papaver somniferum

Tiny blue-black or creamy white seeds with a nutty taste, used in baking and ground into Indian curry pastes.

Also called: khus khus, haşhaş, mak

  • Nutty & toasty
  • No heat
Buying & storing14 recipes

Photo: Odedr, via Wikimedia Commons (public-domain)

Flavour and aroma

mild, nutty, creamy when ground. Mild, nutty.

Heat
No heat
Forms
whole, ground

How to use it

  • soak

    Soak in warm water for 30 minutes to 2 hours, then grind with a little water into a smooth paste. Grinding dry seed in a small mill also works for small amounts.

  • dry roast · Spice roasting (dry-roasting) technique

    For some kurmas and Maharashtrian masalas, roast lightly over low heat for 1–2 minutes until just fragrant; they burn quickly.

  • Bagels, rolls and lemon cakes
  • Polish and Central European poppy-seed rolls
  • Ground white poppy paste in kormas
  • Bengali aloo posto
  • Dressings

Identifying good quality

Indian poppy seed is tiny, creamy white and kidney-shaped. It should smell clean and nutty; rancid seed smells sharp or paint-like.

Origin and history

Origin: The eastern Mediterranean and western Asia.. Grown and used: White poppy seed (khus khus, posto) is used across India; seed for cooking is produced in India, Turkey and Europe..

White poppy seed is ground into pastes that thicken and enrich Mughlai kormas and South Indian kurmas. In Bengal, posto (poppy seed paste) dishes such as aloo posto are a staple; their spread is commonly linked to opium poppy cultivation in eastern India in the colonial period.

Commonly told; not firmly documented

In masalas, pastes and sauces

Recipes with poppy seeds