Herbal Essentials

Long time back, herbs grew on roadsides and people picked them up for free to flavour their curries, Dals, meats etc. There was no concept of dried/powedered herbs. My grandma always used to say that the food tasted much better in olden days. Each season brought its own set of herbs, and seemingly, nature timed their availability to seasonal vegetables. Some regional dishes are still cooked in specific season for this historical reason.

Herbs add excitement, complexity, color and freshness to a dish when complemented with right set of other flavors and spices. Organic and wild herbs offer most intense flavours. Cultivated and heavily fertilized ones are too mild.

Herbs are easy to grow. You can plant a few in your garden and see how they thrive. Always choose fresh garden-grown herbs and look for clean, crisp, vibrant bunches. Use a sharp knife to cut, otherwise herbs are crushed and fail to release their aromas.

When cooking add fresh herbs during the last 10 – 20 minutes to preserve their bright and enticing flavours. Always buy the smallest quantity of fresh herbs possible; treat them as flowers and use them as soon as practical. Here are some of the most popular herbs:

Mint	Mint as over 2000 varieties and often used instead of tea in Morocco and other Mediterranean countries. It enhances rice dishes and is used in form of chutney and is frequently used in drinks to add freshness.
Coriander Leaves	Known as Cilantro in North America and sometimes also known as Chinese Parsley, fresh coriander is an acquired taste. It is much more stronger to the crushed coriander seeds, so a little goes a long way. It is a very common tradition to garnish the curry dishes with chopped coriander leaves
Curry Leaves	When thinking of Indian cuisine (particularly South Indian), the one herb that stands out is definetely curry leaves. It gives a distinctive aroma to most of the dishes prepared in south indian cuisine. Its leaves are narrow and harder than bay leaves but very similar. I won't say that I love curry leaves in every dish but it will be almost a blasphemy to leave these leaves out of some south indian dishes
Dill	Dill was once considered a panacea for everything from illness to witchery. In ancient times, Knights supposedly used burned dill seeds on open wounds to speed the healing process. It is mainly used in pickles, potato salads, and other dishes that require a tangy bite. I prefer mixing a little bit of chopped Dill leaves in stuffed paranthas.

Author: Rajiv Anand