Poppy seeds

If you expect to intoxicate yourself by imbibing large quantities of the seeds from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), think again; the narcotic agent loses its hallucinogenic quality when the poppy matures. This legal spice from an illicitly used plant is off-white in India (it’s a variety that comes from Persia). The blue-gray seed so common in the U.S. is not found in most Indian curries. The white poppy seed acts as a sauce thickener, and the nutty nature of the seed puts it in the umami category. When toasted or roasted in oil, the seed is extremely strong-tasting, as compared to its innocuous raw form. Its backseat personality comes into play in many of Bengal’s curries, where mustard-poppy seed combinations are popular to highlight mustard’s bitterness with poppy’s thickening.