Difference between Khus ki jad and Khus Khus
Is there a difference between the two? Yes they both are absolutely different and come from different plants.
Khus
Khus or Khus ki jad ( vetiver roots) are the dried roots of a grass. This grass is called vetiver in english which comes from Tamil word Vettivar which means “grass”. Khus grass is native to India. The khus grass grows to about 5 feet in height and surprisingly its roots grow about 10-12 feet in the earth below. These are very highly fragrant roots and are used for medicine, therapy, essential oils, cosmetics, as food and a lot more.
It has been used in Indian cuisine and ayurveda for a very long time. It has a cooling and calming effect when used as a sherbet or used as a perfume or oil.
In my childhood we often purchased khus pads for our desert cooler. The moment you use this jad/root in your water cooler the entire house becomes fragrant and has a pleasing & calming smell.
In olden times mats were made out of vetiver roots and water was splashed on it. These mats are hung on the windows or doors and as the hot summer winds pass through them, they cool the surrounding area and give a very pleasing smell.
For a long time khus ki jad has been a critical ingredient in spice mixes or garam masala. Hyderabadi potli masala uses khus ki jad, galouti masala uses khus ki jad and many more. Khus ka sharbat is an excellent cooler for summer heat. Many khus sherbets on the shelves use artificial green color to enhance the looks of it.
Khus Khus
Khus Khus is also called Poppy Seeds which come from the poppy plant. Poppy seed is the tiny dried seed of the opium poppy plant and is used as food and is the source of poppy-seed oil. It is highly nutritious seeds and has been consumed across the world and eesp in India across ages.
In India poppy seeds are called khus khus or posto and are used in several regional cuisines. Bengalis call it posto and use it to make the all-time favourite aloo posto. Khus Khus is used in Hyderabadi cuisine to make dum ka murgh. Lucknowi cuisine uses it for various kormas and it is used for making thandai, kheer, halwa, badam milk, sweets, subzi and baking slices of bread.
Poppy seeds sold in the market do not contain opium (afeem) and are completely safe to use in food.
khus khus are known to be a rich antioxidant with iron, zinc and oleic acid.
Try our Khus Receipe
