Water Lilies As Food

Every part of the lotus found in India (nelumbo nucifera) is edible. Seeds are roasted to make puffs called mahkanas. The plant's roots are ground up to make lotus meal.

Native Americans made flour out of dried roots of a similar plant, Nelumbo lutea, (Yellow Pond Lily) by pounding them. The flour was then baked into pancakes. The root has a bitter flavour - this bitterness can be removed by leaching the root in water. It can be ground into a powder and used in making bread and porridge, or for thickening soups etc. The young leaves and flower buds were eaten as vegetables, seeds eaten fried. The seed can also be parched, when it swells considerably but does not burst like popcorn. It is then normally eaten dry. A refreshing drink is made from the flowers.

Thomas Nuttal (quoted by Coffey) made notes in 1821 of the way the Quapaws of Arkansas used the plant. The young leaves were cooked, the tubers baked, the young seeds eaten raw or cooked and the ripe seeds of winter roasted, boiled or ground into meal. Furthermore they extracted an edible oil from the seeds.

Sources: School of the Seasons and Natural Medicinal Herbs