Cilantro - Storage Tips !

Coriander , called as கொத்தமல்லி in tamil, cilantro / chinese parsely in United States, are most traditionally used in Asian and american cooking.

The fresh leaves are an ingredient in many foods, such as chutneys and salads, salsa, guacamole and as a widely-used garnish for south indian dishes like sambhar, rasam, pulao etc.. As heat diminishes their flavour, coriander leaves are often used raw or added to the dish immediately before serving. In Indian and Central Asian recipes, coriander leaves are used in large amounts and cooked until the flavour diminishes. The leaves spoil quickly when removed from the plant, and lose their aroma when dried or frozen.

Dried seeds are called as “Dhaniya” , dried leaves are called as “ Dried Cilantro leaves” which can also be used as seasoning in pizza’s, bread etc.. The fresh cilantro leaves combined with dried or fresh ginger and jaggery can be used to make tea which relives headache and nausea . 

In India, the person who sells vegetables gives a handful of coriander leaves and curry leaves for free. In united states, both of them are similar to gold and diamond for us. They are very expensive and we need to take better care to store it effectively to make it last for a couple of weeks. The process takes 20 to 30 minutes for 5 bunches of cilantro, but i prefer to do it because the freshness is retained till you use the last leaf (may be upto 20 days) and you can be guilt free (in terms of wastage). Here is my 2 week old cilantro. 

Take all the bunches. Cut the end part (stems) and keep it separately. Start  plucking the leaves along with the stem if the stem is thin (discard really thick stems and the pale yellow leaves) . 

Discard the pale yellow leaves !!

Once you are done with that step, start chopping the leaves along with the thin stems . Place it on a kitchen tissue for 1 hour. Don’t leave it too long. It need not dry completely. Longer you leave, sooner the leaves turn pale yellow. Also, if you store it in a very moist condition, they will become black , even the next day. So touch and check - not very moist and not too dry. So you should finish this task immediately after getting the cilantro from shop. Trust me, its worth the time and effort. 

Next, chop the stems and leave it for sometime. Store it separately so that you can use it for rasam when it is boiling to give an excellent flavor. 

Store both the chopped cilantro and the stems in a wide stainless steel container. Do not store more than the level that it can hold. Do not compress. They should get enough air to breathe and stay happily in your fridge.

Note : Initially i tried in a wide plastic container. It did turn black in 3 to 4 days. My mother in law asked me to try it in a wide stainless steel box. I had this container that she gave me. I tried it once. It worked out. So this became my cilantro storage box.

So, the way you pluck the leaves, how you chop, how good you store it in the box giving enough air - every single thing matters. So please follow each and every step! Once you start doing this, you will never keep it directly in the fridge. 

Plants, leaves, vegetables, fruits are very sensitive. They have their own life and expect maintenance, love and care. Since they give us so much benefits, why don’t we spare 30 minutes of our time and store them properly, for their sake and our sake too. Give them a happy life until use!! I store my vegetables and fruits in a safe way so that they don’t need to be thrown without using. That definitely happens once in a blue moon (has happened so many times for me,  i can never deny ) , but let’s put some effort to avoid wasting them. Whether it’s free or for money.

Do try this and comment how it works for you ! It definitely gives you immense happiness seeing your herb lasting long.