Pond to pack
Four steps, nothing skipped
Raw makhana — any grade, any pack size — goes through the same four steps before it ships. Popped, but never seasoned. Here's what actually happens between the pond and your order.
Step 01 · Harvest
Pulled by hand from the pond
Makhana grows as seed pods on the prickly water lily, in the shallow ponds of North Bihar. Come harvest season, workers wade in — often waist-deep — and pull the pods out by hand. There's no mechanised way to do this part; it's the same method it's always been.
The pods are cracked open on the spot to get at the raw seed inside, then carried out of the pond for drying. Everything after this point starts from that same raw seed.
Step 02 · Dry & Grade
Dried, then sorted by size
The raw seeds are sun-dried until the moisture drops enough for storage, then sorted by size — what growers call the "suta" grading, from the smallest (3 Suta) up to the largest, most premium seeds (6+ Suta).
This grading is exactly what you're choosing between on the raw makhana page — unroasted, unseasoned seed, sold by size so you know what you're getting for kheer, curries, or roasting at home.
Step 03 · Pop
Popped over heat — nothing added
The dried, graded seed is still hard until it's popped — heated just enough to crack and puff it into the light, familiar makhana shape. That's the same heat-popping every makhana goes through, raw or flavoured; it's what turns a hard seed into makhana at all.
What makes ours "raw" is what doesn't happen next: no oil, no salt, no seasoning goes in at this stage. It's popped and left plain — ready for your kheer, curry, or your own roasting at home.
Step 04 · Weigh & Pack
Weighed and packed to order
Packs are weighed and sealed only once an order comes in — we don't keep finished stock sitting on a shelf. That's true across every grade and every pack size, 100g through 500g.
It adds a bit of lead time compared to shipping from a warehouse, but it means what reaches you was packed for your order specifically, not pulled from a batch that's been sitting around.
