Hello Mamta,

I've just been given some alkanet root/rain jot by a friend as a gift and I was curious about how to use this. I know it's sometimes used in Indian cooking to give food a nice red colour. My question is how much of it should I use if I was making a dish for 4 people? And is there any type of preparation that needs to be done beforehand or can it just be added whole?

I hope you can answer.

Warm regards, Andrew.

(Posted by mamta, question received in Mail)

Hellow Andrew

Ratan Jyot or Jatropha gossypifolia or Jatropha curcas Linn (Euphorbiacoao) is a herbal medicine, as far as I know. I am not aware of it's culinary uses. If it is red, may be it is used as a food colouring?

I will post your question on my Forum, perhaps some else will know!

Mamta

Yes i do know it is a herb and it is used in Indian cooking as a natural red food colouring. I was just wondering how much I'd need to use.

I've just moved to East London, and have been in all the stores and markets near by to see what new (to me) things I could find. One thing I found was ratan jyot ...alkonet root (the spelling on the packet). I have had a go at extracting it into boiling water and hot oil; it is insoluble in water, but forms a purple solution in the oil.

It is supposed to be used in the making of the dish rogan josh, although I have never seen this ingredient listed, only mawal (or cock's comb flower) for colouring.

My guess is that if you want to use it for colouring, it has to go in the dish whilst there is still only oil/fat/ghee present, that is, beore any water based ingredient is added. With this information, it is easy to see why it could be used in a traditional rogan josh, which ends up as nearly all oil/fat/ghee with spiced lamb/mutton/goat.

Again, my guess is a teaspoonful for a four people recipe.

All you do is take 5?6 pieces of the root and fry it in hot ghee or oil. When the oil turns red you remove the alkanet root/rotin jot either by straining the ghee/oil through a sieve or by removing it with a spoon. Then you cook the dish as usual. When you add it to hot ghee or oil it lets off a bright red colour, however, like Lapis has already mentioned, it doesn't let off any colour when it's placed in water?well it hasn't for me anyway.