This plant is a member of the Umbelliferae, or carrot family and is thus a close relative of celery, dill, cumin, caraway, chervil, and fennel among others. Fresh Coriander is better known as dhania, or cilantro. The plant grows a small bunch of leaves before quickly forming a tall flowering stalk which produces numerous small light pink flowers. These little coriander flowers quickly produce the little fruits known as the spice, coriander, which actually contain several small seeds. If these coriander fruits, or seeds as they are more commonly called, are left on the plant they will quickly turn brown-grey, drop, and disperse.

Other Names

Coentro (Portuguese); coriandolo (Italian); coriandre (French); coriandro (Spanish); dhania (Hindi); gad or kusbara (Hebrew); giligilani (Swahili); hu sui (Chinese); ketumbar (Indonesian); kişniş (Turkish); koliandro (Greek); koriander (German); koriandr (Russian); kusbarah (Arabic); ¬_mellet pak chi_ (Thai); mui (Vietnamese).

Preparation and Storage

Coriander seed is generally used coarsely ground or more finely powdered, depending on the texture desired. It is best bought whole as, being brittle, it is easy to mill or pound in a mortar. Ground coriander is apt to lose its flavour and aroma quickly and should be stored in an opaque airtight container. Whole seeds keep indefinitely. Their flavour may be enhanced by a light roasting before use. As coriander is mild, it is a spice to be used by the handful, rather than the pinch.

 

Culinary Uses

• The commonest use of coriander seed is in curry powders, where it is the bulkiest constituent, often rough ground in India to give a crunchy texture.

• The seeds can be likewise used in stews and soups.

• Use coriander seeds with black pepper while making biltong

• Add crushed coriander seeds to the boerewors mix when making boerewors.

• Toast coriander seeds in a dry pan before grinding to add to Indian, Asian, and North African dishes.

• Add ground (untoasted) coriander to cakes, cookies, apple pie, fruit crumbles, and Danish pastry.

• They blend well with smoked meats and game and feature in traditional English black pudding recipes and Italian mortadella sausage.

• Coriander is an ingredient of garam masala, pickling spices and pudding spices and is used in cakes, breads and other baked foods.

• Sugared comfits made from the seeds are a traditional sweetmeat and breath sweetener.

• Coriander is a characteristic of Arab cookery, being common with lamb, kid and meat stuffings.

• Taklia, a popular Arab spice mixture, is coriander and garlic crushed and fried.

• Coriander with cumin is a common combination and features in falafel and in the Egyptian appetizer dukka, which consists of those spices plus sesame seeds, hazelnuts, salt and pepper, roasted and crushed.

• Coriander goes well with ham and pork, especially when orange is included.

• It enhances fish dishes and, with other spices, may form a delicious coating for spiced fish or chicken, rubbed into the scored flesh and grilled.

• Try frying a few seeds with sausages to add an unusual flavour.

• Coriander complements chilli and is included in many chilli recipes, such as harissa, the hot North African red pepper sauce.

• Make a marinade for fish by combining 2 ml of coriander seed with 2 ground allspice berries, the juice of a lemon and some olive oil. Marinate the fish for 30 minutes and grill.

• Add 2 ml of ground coriander seed to the batter of gingerbread or banana bread.

Other Names

cilantro; Arab parsley; Chinese parsley; cigánypetrezselyem (Hungarian); cilantrillo (some Caribbean islands); gad or kusbara (Hebrew); Indian parsley; pak chi met or phak hom (Thai); wanzendill (German); yuen sai (Chinese).

Purchase and Avoid

Drying destroys most of dhania’s fragrance, so only buy it fresh. When purchasing be on the lookout for leaves that are yellowing or rotting.

Storage

Store dhania wrapped in paper towels and then in a plastic bag in the warmest part of the refrigerator, generally near the light. Field-grown dhania sold with roots will keep best in a jar filled with water to maintain moisture. They lose flavour when dried, but may be frozen either blanched or chopped and frozen into ice cubes.

Culinary Uses

• The leaves are always used fresh.

• The leaves can be chopped or minced before use.

• They feature in Spanish, Middle Eastern, Indian, Oriental and South American cookery.

• They are sprinkled like parsley on cooked dishes, minced or puréed in sauces, soups and curries, especially bhuna.

• Both seeds and leaves can be used in salads.

• In Thailand the root of the coriander plant is used to flavour meats and curries.

• Make Mexican pico de gallo by combining chopped tomatoes, green chillies, onion, lime juice, and plenty of chopped dhania.