I have concocted a great way to preserve fresh coriander for upto 10 days.

1. Take a 2 litre mineral water plastic bottle (empty one) and cut it to approx 7" tall to resemble a drinking glass

2. Fill it 2" high with cold water

3. Take your bunch of coriander and place it in the water so the roots are submerged, just like a bunch of flowers. If the coriander came packed with an elastic band, remove this first and separate the stalks out a little so they have room to breathe.

4. Take a plastic carrier bag and cover the entire bunch, leaves and all, and store it like that in the fridge. This prevents the leaves from drying out.

I have tried storing it like this at room temp, but it does not work quite as well as in the fridge.

It lasts a good 10 days stored like this, and from time to time check for any dead stalks and remove them to preserve the rest of the bunch.

Liza

Fresh coriander can be kept fresh for many months as follows:

Separate all green leaves from a bunch. Clean them well and dry them in a paper towel thoroughly. Shape them to a sausage on a wrapping tissue paper tightly and keep in in the deep freeze section of the refrigerator. Make sure that the the coriander sausage is tightly rolled. Whenever you need fresh coriander you just chop off the sausage and use it directly in the recipe leaving the balance of the sausage in the deep freeze. It can last this way for more than four months- almost in fresh condition.

Thank you. My problem is solved,

While in India on a recent trip, I learnt about two more ways of preserving coriander leaves;

1. Wash and dry leaves on a towel overnight or for a few hours. Wrap in a kitchen paper and keep this inside a plastic bag.

2. Place washed leaves and stems in a plastic box half filled with water. Close lid and refrigerate.

I have not tried either these methods yet, but will soon.

Mamta

Wash the coriander with fresh water

take off the leaves part

grind them to paste and add little salt and citric acid

bottle it and keep in freezer

Any thought ? haven't tried it, but plan to when I go to India.

I want it to last for atleast 2 months without much loosing its flavour/smell

Any thoughts

Thanks.

Udai

Salt and citric acid? Must try this soon.

The last time I had too much coriander in the garden, I pureed some roughly and froze it in an ice-tray. Then saved the cubes in a sandwich bag. The flavour is quite good, but perhaps because home grown one has better flavour because it is not forced and grows slowly.

Thanks

Wouldn't adding salt and citric acid effectively be cooking the coriander leaves ?

Steve

No idea Steve, I am no good at chemistry of food!!

I'm just thinking along the lines of lemon juice being the cooking agent in some raw fish dishes. Its the lemon juice that is "cooking" the fish (think about it as an acid which would (if strong enough) burn your skin)

Steve

Chop the fresh coriander and place it in an ice-cube tray. Fill the ice-cube tray with cold water and freeze. When you need coriander just pop an ice-cube or two and defrost it before adding to the dish.

adding an acid to protein denatures it, it doesn't 'cook' it, it is still raw! However, heating protein also denatures it, so there is some common ground. Don't think acidifying fish gets rid of ?organisms though, mould still grows on lemons!!

We have had quite a few ideas discussed here about what to do with fresh coriander leaves, how to make them last longer. I have collated them all together under one heading; Coriander Leaves, How to Preserve Them?. I have added a couple of pictures, but more of other methods will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mamta

What an excellent idea !... looks like new section on "how to" LOL

Steve

I think ive mentioned it before but all I do is pull them out of the ground, chop off the roots, give them a wash and put into freezer bags, stalks and all. If im feeling energetic I de-leaf them :o) but not usually. I've found they still smell and taste the same 6 months down the track. I usually have a years supply in my freezer - yum!

Cheers

Steve

I have added your method too SteveAUS. Next time take a picture and send it to me please.

Mamta

Dear SteveAus

Hope you are not throwing away the roots having chopped them off - they are the best bit! See tip no.9 on the new 'coriander page.' Essential for Thai curries simply pop them in a pot in the freezer ready to pound up as necessary.

To make a great marinade for chicken grind together the roots with garlic and peppercorns, before rubbing the paste into chicken pieces. Leave before deep frying the chicken and you have 'Gai Tord' - Thai Fried Chicken!

Winton, I have not used coriander roots in a long time, must do it again soon! I keep forgetting :-(! I still have some fresh coriander in the garden that has survived frost.

Mamta

Thanks Winton for reminding me. I will chop the bases off and store these in a separate bag. Ive heard of them being used but I havent personally used them.

Cheers

Steve

so do all herbs survive the freezer???

Nearly all herbs 'survive' the freezer, but some, such as the 'woody' ones, much better than others!

I've found it best to first freeze them spread out on a tray before bagging up. They will loose some of their colour and texture but keep more flavour than drying them.

They aren't much use for use as garnishes or in salads but fine in cooked dishes and I would not buy herbs especially to freeze, only when I have a surplus or can raid a friend's garden!

One good tip is to freeze little bunches of 'bouquet garni' so you won't have to worry about having thyme, parsley and bay leaves etc. all together at the same time again.

I have been storing coriander in a plastic container lined with kitchen paper towel to absorb any moisture. It stores in the fridge like this for upto two weeks with very little discolouration compared to dying and drooping in 3 days when just left in the fridge.

The trick is, I use a plastic container (bought from Ikea but anything similar will do) that has a steam vent in the lid that can be opened. This is meant for releasing steam when you cook/reheat in the microwave.

However, leaving this vent open with the coriander leaves in the fridge seems to do the trick for me. If you find the paper towel soggy, just replace that. Have done the same with other herbs like parsley and mint too.

I hear that Tupperware sells an expensive container that does something similar called Freezermate. This was my cheaper alternative.

Dear Shants,

INstead of kitchen paper kitchen towel will also do, and yes keeping the vent open is important or just store it without the cover. see Mamta's link www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13437

Hugh Fernley Whittingstall (River Cottage) is catching slugs with beer traps and is looking at eating them !.... has he been reading on this site ? lol

Steve

Ps they have purged them for a week !

now thats add odd.. I'm sure I opened the topic titled "SLUGS!" and posted this ?

Steve

I saw it, made me nearly sick justb looking all that slimy stuff!

Where is the slug topic?

Quoting Mamta

I don't think storing the corriander in a tub of water would be a good idea.

I'm a chef my self, to my knowledge anything stored in water for a period of time will be extremely prone to botulism...

Many cases of this has happened, with people storing salad leaves in water.

The best way I have found is to blend the corriander with a little water, and pour into ice cube trays, then pop a block out as you need it, but it's really only suitable for hot cooking.

As people have mentioned, it is no good for salads, or cold dishes, but for the price of corriander, or the ease of growing it, then it is easier to buy it.

Just read up a bit on Botulisim and it also mentions storing things like chillies under oil can help it grow ! It does appear that food stuffs stored without some sort of acid content can help it grow!

It is killed by cooking but it must be cooked at 121?C for 3 minutes, sounds like its not much of a problem but bare in mind that water boils at 100?C so wouldn't be hot enough !

Steve

How about making a coriander pesto? If you make sure that there's a layer of oil above the herb then home made pesto can last for a few years in the fridge. I'd just use olive oil, coriander and a bit of salt. You could add a teaspoon towards the end of cooking something...

I've never made coriander pesto but I make basil pesto every year and it does last for a long time - I've heard someone say that they've had jars of home made pesto in the fridge for about 13 years and it's still good (a long story). I'm sure the same would apply to any herb.

I wonder if it will keep its flavour with olive oil? Do get back to us, if you do decide to make it. That may slove the problem of surplus coriander all getting ready at the same time.

I have two large trays of coriander seedlings that i planted from my spice cupboard. Normally it goes to seed fairly quickly if it's grown from from the spice jar, but I think Lapis already pointed out that there's two types of coriander, one is grown for its leaves and the other for seeds.

Tesco do nice big bags of coriander so I may get a bag or two of that and make a coriander pesto and see how it turns out. It's okay me saying that it will last for a few years in the fridge providing it has a layer of oil on the top, but in reality it would most probably get used up fairly quickly in our house. Extra virgin olive oil would be great for making it, but I imagine that if you were adding it in at the end of making a curry then maybe it would impart a strong flavour. It might be better not to use extra virgin but just a normal olive oil.

I'll let you know how it goes for sure.

I wash the coriander leaves along with its roots in cold water, drain the water off and store in air tight container in the fridge. It stays very fresh for at least 10 days.

Just drain the water off, or dry it off Phil. Mine begin to go soggy if any water is left on the leaves.

It's easy. Simply take the coriander leaves place them in a plastic bag. Bung them in the freezer and it should work for up to six months!

All you have to do is get a plastic tub filled halfway with water, and put the leaves in it. Yo can then put it in the for up to four months! It won't lose any flavour. Go on!Give it a try! It's never failed me!

How do I preserve coriander seeds for both culinary purposes and for sowing next year?

If they are dry already, just keep them in a jar or a paper bag until next year.

Thank you for your reply but I now need to know if I need to remove the seed heads and dry them myself or leave nature to do it. My seed heads are still green and have been for a while.

If I plant the Coriander seeds that you get from the supermarket Schwartz type in a small bottle/jar will they grow as fresh coriander?

Not sure Jo, Schwartz type seeds can be pretty old. The ones you buy from Indian grocers in large packets work out a lot cheaper and do germinate okay. I find that the best so far have been from seed packets bought from Wilkinson's.

Hi All

I tend to get a glut of coriander in the garden and the way I go about storing it is, wash a dry it, cut into 3, Roots, Stems, Leaf. Chop the leaf (not too small)

chop the stems (finely) leave the roots whole, place into 3 different plastic containers and freeze, use the roots in Thai food / sauces, stems as roots or in curries, Leaf as you normally would, I use the Leaf in salads not the same as fresh but much better than none :)

Getting fresh coriander after summer here in my part of France is impossible so this way I have a supply to get me through to spring.

curry-man86

You get a glut of coriander? I'm envious! Have never got it to grow.

Thank goodness for our Moroccan ?pic?rie here in the Languedoc: he gets me inexpensive bunches of coriander leaf. I hate having to buy those rip-off plastic packs, in the supermarkets, containing a few stalks.

Phil

Hi Phil

Be careful you need the correct type of seeds one type is for seed production and another for leaf growth you need to plant the seeds out (they do not like being trans-planted)or plant in a deep tub (they have a long tap root) like 30cm deep and you should be OK, if you have a "Grand Frais" near you I understand they do big bunches cheap, have not tried myself as my nearest is over an hour away but as I said I grow it and freeze it which works well for me.

curry-man86

Never heard of 'Grand Frais', I'm afraid. Wish I could find a place here that did coriander seeds. I tried using the ones that are sold for cookery, but they just bolted after sprouting.

Phil

Would help if I could spell :) it's "Grand Fraise",The Languedoc is a big area Phil whereabout's are you, there are 8 or 9 shops in your area and they are BIG.

Coriander seeds available in Lidl for leaf and cheap as well, do you grow chilli's or anything else a bit different or unusual, I'm trying to get some curry leaf plant seeds a guy is hopefully sending me some.

curry-man86

We're near Montpellier. So, 'Big Strawberry', right? Never heard of it.

Must check out LIDL.

Let me know how you get on with curry leaf seeds.

I currently grow cherry tomatoes and green peppers during the summer months. Can't see why chilli peppers shouldn't grow, but I can't find the plants.

I put all these things in big pots, exposed to full Med sunshine: the soil here is too poor to grow most veg, though olive trees are well-adapted to the soil and climate. Bumper crop this year, after last year's disaster (la mouche et la pluie: fatal combination).

Phil

Phil, talk about a "Senior Moment" I spelt it right the first time, (reminder: I must clean glasses)

Well the good news and I hope I've got this right

"Grand Frais"

Centre Commercial Balaruc Loisirs

34540 Balaruc

04 67 18 01 80

which I believe is not far from you, I have not been to one but a reliable lady I know buys all her veggies and herbs there and she is a curry fanatic.

Grow veggies in trenches, dig out trench about 2 ft deep 2 ft wide and a long as you like (have a friend or mate with a digger?) get down to the local stables or riding club or someone near you must have horses get some manure half fill the trench with it and replace earth, mix it in a bit and give it a good watering it will be great for next year.

Good crops would be Okra, Italian long red peppers, Chilli, Aubergines etc. all grown from seed, sod buying plants, I can send you chilli seeds if you would like them, this year I had 21 on the go 3 different types loads in the freezer now and almost as good as fresh IMO and I've a small village house garden and my Italian tomatoes did really well lots of flesh and little seed, the green ones left I have made into "Hot" green tomato chutney Mmmmmm!!!!!

regards

curry-man86

Damn! I didn't think of hot green tomato chutney! I had a ton of green tomatoes which will not now ripen. Might try to rescue some, but there's rot and blight now.

Will check out Balaruc-lse-Bains. Bit of a trek. So it's a frozen food place, right: 'frais', as in 'cold', as opposed to 'fraise', as in 'strawberry'.

I have a horse-riding centre nearby, but the thought of a digger here again pains me, after the nightmare of the stone mason, the swimming pool and the poolside work. Went on for a year, cost a fortune. Masons kill plants withhout even noticing it.

Phil

Phil can you borrow / hire a mini tractor and plough? you could rip up a few trenches in a day.

Sounds like you have a big and nice plot, mind you I have a big swimming pool it's called a river :) and only 10 min's away.

I think you find it's frais as in fresh, confusing I know, froid is cold, there's one at Nimes or Narbonne or Al?s or Castres, you said you are in Montpellier and Balaruc looks just up the road from Montpellier.

If your quick with the toms just cut off the dodgy bits and use the rest should be fine, make sure you sterilize your jars, but you knew that.

Bonne chance

curry-man86

That was a great tip re the green tomatoes: I've picked dozens of them, and I've printed out Mamta's green tomato chutney recipe. Also had a second crop of green peppers, so they'll be going in the chicken jalfrezi.

I did once hire a petrol-driven plough, to plant shrubs by the pool. Might have a go again. I've often thought of renting an allotment down in the river valley, but my wife says that it would be crazy, given that we've got between four and five acres of land. The trouble is that, apart from the poor chalk/clay soil, much of it is north-facing, and the only things that survive there are the trees in the pine grove and olive grove. We're on top of a hill, and when the north wind comes howling down, it kills plants. We lost a ton of plants last winter, including a palm tree.

So this spot, south facing and below the level of the pool, would probably work as a vegetable plot.

Can't wait to get stuck into that green tomato chutney. Didn't know the word was of Indian origin.

Phil

Hi again

How do I sterilise the jars? I have lots of jam jars in the garage, so I could use those.

Yes, you're right, 'frais' in French means 'fresh', but it also means 'cool', perhaps because, to keep many things fresh, you need to keep them cool.

Phil

Hello Phil

glad you sorted your tom's, how many Kg did you end up with, I'm not knocking Mamta's recipe, I personally used onions in mine, half the weight of tom's (.5 Kg onions for each Kg of tom's) and cider vinegar not such a sharp taste and better for you and double the garlic and 1 tsp nigella (onion seeds) also not too sure about the tomato puree but hey that's just my thoughts.

Sterilising your jars and lids is easy if you have a dish washer as the last of the wash cycle is a sterilise cycle, if no washer after washing by hand put 2 to 3 cm fresh water in each jar and place in microwave run for 3 minutes watch near the end whip the door open and you should see the water bubbling if not run another minute and check again until you see the water boiling in the jars, now VERY CAREFULLY REMOVE THE JARS WITH AN OVEN GLOVE / CLOTH and empty jars and drain on a clean cloth, you will have to pour boiling water over the lids and wipe dry with a clean cloth.

Bonne chance

curry-man86

Moving on to your garden, I think your wife is right forget the allotment, I bet your next door neighbour has a veg plot, sounds like you need a fence, wall or row of hedging and plant on the lee side of it, or down by the pool sounds good,the petrol plough should work, plough your area up then plough the manure in and water it too, sounds like you are going to need a new chest freezer for the veggies :)

I have learnt that with my small garden I tend to grow what is expensive to buy or hard to get, I do grow tom's and make a sauce from the excess for winter use and lettuce at 6 week intervals to keep the supply going and a half wine barrel with salad leaves (seeds available in Lidl) you just cut some leaves for your salad and more come up all season, lovely flavours.

All the best

curry-man86

I have two admissions to make:

1. I don't know how to operate the dishwasher.

2. We haven't had scales for years.

I sterilised the jars in the microwave. Hope it worked.

It took me several hours to get new scales this afternoon, since the first ones didn't work, and had to be taken back to the shop, and then I had to drive to another town to buy new scales. I was supposd to be writing my books this afternoon! What a skiver!

I was struck by how tart the green tomato chutney was: I kept adding sugar.

I was also struck by the absence of frying, of onion, garlic, ginger and spices.

I note that my jar of lime pickle is full of oil. I like that. But it means that some ingredients have been fried in oil, no?

Phil

Phil

Your first sentence made me laugh..................

put jars and lids in, place DW tablet in, close door, select eco wash, turn on

wait for DW to stop remove items or get your good lady to show you...your funny

A writer no less, no wonder you can't use a dish washer :)

I use 500grams brown sugar per 500ml of apple cider vinegar I also fry off the onions and spices then add the vinegar and sugar taste, cook down about an hour simmering and taste adjust seasoning and continue cooking till it's like a jam taste again adjust if necessary

You can make lime pickle with and without oil, the oil normally used is mustard oil which gives the pickle a unique flavour.

I guess you have now completed the chutney, how is it tasting?

I have a pork shoulder in the fridge smothered in a rub will cook that tomorrow low and slow and I also have some cubed pork marinading for Pork Kebabs (Souvlaki Hirino) for tonight.

Right I'm going to finish off my prawn and veggie curry left over from last night for lunch with homemade naan bread which I just might fry rather than bake, never done it before so could be interesting.

All the best

curry-man86

ps. as a point of interest, what type of books do you write Phil.

Hi again

DW tablet? Sounds very technical to me! My wife says I'm a hopeless case. I guess this makes me not exactly a 'new man'. Let's say 'nearly new', then (only one previous owner!)

Yes, that was my instinct, to fry off the onions first. I'll perhaps do that next year, since it'll be this time next year when I do this again (isn't seasonal cookery fab?). Anyway, it tastes good: quite tangy. Haven't tried it on my wife yet.

You couldn't possibly put that rub recipe here on the recipes list, could you? I can't get more than one page to print out, for some reason.

re books: I'm a university professor. I write several different kinds of academic books, including textbooks for undergraduates. Although I've published six books, the thing I'm most proud of is the fact that I have two recipes on this website!

Phil

Phil your not hopeless in fact who is hopeless, me i can't spell and my grammer is not that good but I'm not hopeless.

DW tablet= Dishwasher tablet, it is written on the box. :)

I'm glad the chutney turned out OK, mine is superb (Ho! Ho!Ho!)

I guess your books must be hopeless too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think NOT......

Your the man who had problems with your chutney and you sorted it, we are all good at certain things, we are all learning new things, I thought I knew all the answers then the buggers changed the questions, look at you two recipes in print.

My email address s.mani (at) orange.fr leave out the stars and change the (at)

send me an email and I'll send by return.

regards

curry-man86

Ah yes: DW for dishwasher. My wife presses as many as three different buttons on the dishwahsre. Something to do with timing, I think. If I can get it to work, I might venture as far as the washing machine. But trying to programme the DVD recorder beats me completely!

Thanks for the email address. Looking forward to the rub recipe.

Phil