Used across cuisines to add crunch to crusty baked items, creamy nuttiness to fillings and taste and texture to sauces and curries. In Bengal, this seed paste is had raw, is added to vegetables and also often made into fried patties. Posto or poppy seeds are one of the more expensive ingredients to be found in an Indian kitchen. In North India, this is used mostly as a thickener for Mughlai dishes like korma and is often optional. But, in Bengal, this is a kitchen staple.