Nutty and pleasant in taste, poppy seeds are nutritious oil seeds used as condiment in cooking.
Poppy, in general, is used either, in the form of whole seeds, ground or as thick or thin paste in recipes. Poppy applied over toasts, breads, seafood before they are deep-fried. In India and Pakistan, gently fried seeds are ground to a make thin paste, which is then added as thickening in dips, curries and in sweet dishes. In South India, poppy seed milk is used to prepare sweet recipe popular as kuskus payasam with added milk, coconut milk, cardamom, raisins, and sugar. In Central Europe, especially in Austria and Hungary, the seeds are used in s a popular sweet pastry dish like Strudel and Germknodel. The seeds are widely used in confectionery like stuffing, rolls, bagels, sweet breads, biscuits, and cakes.
- Mineral source – Poppy seeds act as source for a variety of minerals like iodine, manganese, magnesium, zinc and copper.
- Other important ingredients – Poppy seeds also offer a number of ingredients, which include thiamine, riboflavin, lecithin, oxalic acid, pentosans and amorphous alkaloid.
- Enzymes – Poppy seeds also help in enhancing the enzymes like diastase, emulsin, lipase and nuclease in the human body.
- Fatty acids – These seeds are also good sources of fatty acids, especially the omega-3 fatty acids, which are required by human body to ensure good health. Thus, you may consume these seeds in various forms and foods to supply these acids to body.
- Carbohydrates – Poppy seeds may also be considered as good sources of carbohydrates and thus, these are helpful in enhancing the level of energy supplied to human body for routine functions.
- Digestion – Poppy seeds are also considered as useful remedies for facilitating effective process of digestion in human body.
- Seeds oil – Poppy seed oil is also used as condiment to add flavor to different types of recipes.