Baked Lotus Root Chips

Event: Blogging marathon #40
Theme: Unused posts from BM #39

BM #40 starts from today and one of the themes gave us an opportunity to make use of the extra posts we had in our drafts from last marathon, which was based on Indian states' cuisines. I am going with that theme for this week and the first post in this series is going to be lotus root chips. I had it as a backup plan for the state of Jammu and Kashmir if I didn't get hold of an authentic Bakarkhani recipe. It is another story that I ended up with girda and tamatar chaaman instead.
I wanted to try the baked version of lotus roots chips ever since I saw this recipe. The traditional version involves deep frying and a favorite of Kashmiris. This baked version is good too when served fresh from the oven and I had them as an accompaniment to my rice-dal lunch.

Ingredients:
Lotus root discs
2 tbsp oil
Salt
Chilli powder

Method:
* If using fresh lotus root, peel the skin and cut into 1/8 inch thick discs. Let the discs be of the same size for uniform baking. I used pre-cut frozen lotus root discs and popped them in the microwave for about a minute before slicing each disc into two since they were thick.
* In the meanwhile, boil a pot of water. Add the discs and salt to it and cook for about 4 minutes. Drain and transfer them onto a towel to dry.
* Preheat the oven to 450 deg F.
* Put 2 tbsp of oil on a baking sheet. Add salt and chili powder (as needed) to the oil and mix well. Next add the discs to the oil mix and gently combine to coat them.
* Spread them on the baking sheet and bake for about 20 - 22 minutes, stopping halfway through to flip them once. (Mine were done in about 16-18 minutes.)

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