Roughly nine out of ten makhana in the world come from Bihar. It grows in the shallow ponds of the Mithila region — Darbhanga, Madhubani, Purnia, Katihar and Saharsa.
How it is harvested
This is the part most people never see. Makhana grows on the bed of a pond under two to three metres of water. There is no machine for this. Divers go down repeatedly through the silt, collecting seeds by hand, one pass at a time, over weeks.
The seeds are then sun-dried, graded by size, roasted in sand at high heat and popped by hand with a wooden mallet. Almost none of that has been mechanised. When a pack says hand-harvested, it is being literal.
The GI tag
In 2022 Mithila Makhana received a Geographical Indication tag, formally recognising Bihar as its origin — the same category of protection as Darjeeling tea or Alphonso mangoes.
Why we say Bihar and Chennai
Our makhana is grown and popped in Bihar. It is then brought to Chennai, where it is roasted, flavoured and turned into noodles, pasta and cookies in an FSSAI-certified facility. Two states, two halves of the process — we would rather name both than imply we grow it ourselves.