Roasted Coriander powder

Tweet

This week has been a really hectic one with so many happenings and so much work to do at home. The week started normal and then I found out that ,using the blog feed someone is copying the entire content from Collaborative Curry and publishing in their site.That means this post will also appear on the site of those shameless creatures as soon as I post here ! There was a huge discussion going on in my Facebook page.I do not want to give those people any more unwanted publicity. So I am not giving a link here on this page,but the name of that site is "desifoodbuzz" which clearly shows they couldn't even create a site name themselves and copied that too ! If you would like to know more about it,ask me. I can send a message.

It is not that I do not have anything in my drafts,but none of them has decent pictures.So I had to settle for this one,something I wanted to share with you for so long. When I started learning to cook, I didn't know much about the difference in using roasted coriander powder or the raw powder in cooking Kerala dishes. But I knew that whenever I add the coriander powder from Kerala,the curries tasted wonderful.

I was under the impression that everyone roast coriander before they grind.Correct me here,if I am wrong.When my kids were smaller I always bought all the spice powders from grocery store or I bring a big pack with me whenever I visit Kerala. But after coming to US,the frequency of Kerala visits got minimal and the Indian grocery stores that sell spice powders from brands in Kerala rare. So I decided to make my own masala powders and spice powders,my own. I know most of you might be doing the same,but this post is for the newbies and for those who do not know the difference between roasted and non-roasted coriander powder.

As I told you, I use roasted coriander powder for making signature dishes from Kerala,especially all the non vegetarian dishes and those recipes that calls for roasted coconut. I have tried making chicken curry,black channa curry etc. with the usual coriander powder whenever I ran out of roasted powder, but believe me, even after adding double the quantity I didn't get the flavor I get from adding roasted one.So if you are from Kerala, and shifted to some other place and use ready made coriander powder in your dishes and wondering why your chicken curry or kadala curry doesn't taste the same,here is the answer : use roasted coriander powder ! The difference is as much as the color difference you see here.

This doesn't mean that I do not use raw coriander or raw coriander powder. I use them in plenty in the North Indian dishes I make. I use coarsely crushed coriander in samosas and parathas.Before I say goodbye,I would like to discuss a couple of health benefits of coriander.Coriander is good for your stomach and if you have gastritis,just chew on a few coriander seeds or boil some water with coriander seeds in it and drink. This is a common practice in Kerala,we drink boiled water with several different spices. The scope of that subject is enough for another post,so I will tell you more about that some other time. Coriander seeds has the ability to reduce LDL cholesterol,it has lot of dietary fibers, it has vitamin C and is a good source of many essential minerals. You can read more here. In Ayurveda, chewing these seeds is recommended for,getting rid of bad breath.

Disclaimer: The health/medicinal benefits I discussed here is based on my knowledge from the practices we do at home.Follow at your own risk !

Ingredients:

Coriander seeds

Method:

1.Dry roast coriander seeds in a thick bottom pan on medium low heat,for about 10 minutes or until seed color changes slightly and a nice aroma comes.
2.Spread it on a thick sheet of paper and let it cool down. Grind using your dry grinder/coffee grinder when it is still warm when you touch.
3.When powder cools down to room temperature,store it in an air tight container.