Dried mahua flowers cooked with jaggery into a sweet, mildly aromatic preparation — a traditional forest food of Tripura's tribal communities using flowers collected from the mahua tree.
Ingredients
1 cup dried mahua flowers (Madhuca longifolia — dried flowers that look like small pale dried fruits; available at tribal markets in Central and East India; or from online tribal food suppliers)
1/4 cup jaggery — grated
2 cups water
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
A pinch of salt
Method
Soak dried mahua flowers in 2 cups warm water for 30 minutes.
They will soften and rehydrate.
Drain the soaking water (which will be slightly sweet — this can be kept and drunk as a light flavoured water).
Place the soaked mahua flowers in a pot with fresh 2 cups water.
Add grated jaggery. Bring to a boil stirring until jaggery dissolves.
Reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes until the liquid reduces slightly and deepens in flavour.
Add cardamom powder and a pinch of salt. Stir.
The preparation can be served as a warm drink with the flowers left in, or strained for a clear sweet drink.
The flavour is distinctly floral, mildly sweet and slightly earthy — unlike any other flower preparation. Serve warm.