Tag: herbs and spices

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  Coriander

  If I could only choose one herb to cook with for the rest of my life, this would be it. Luckily I don’t have to choose :).

  You can use the roots, stems, leaves and seeds in your cooking. Quite a claim to fame!

  I want to show you a full life cycle from seed to seedling to harvest to seed and then back to seedling again. Initially I started with seeds from my favourite seed company, Mr Fothergills Australia. No I am not paid to say that :).

  Now I have so many of my own seeds I can keep growing Coriander at no cost.

  Here are the seeds:

  

  Now for some secret seed raising tips that you can’t tell a soul:

  1. Fill a jam jar with warm water and soak the seeds overnight.
  2. Drain the water and then and sprinkle the seeds in rich, flat, well draining soil.
  3. Cover ever so slightly with more soil. If you can still see the odd part of a seed sticking out here you are on the right track.
  4. Keep the soil moist at all times until you see growth. Then water normally. I use a hand pump spray bottle every morning and evening to mist the area in that first stage.

  Look at the amazing growth over 2 months:

   

  After about 3 months of growth, July to September in Perth 2016, the plants themselves were about 30 to 40 cm tall. The mild winter (it was “very cold” in the mornings but rarely below 0°C) and their partial shade location stopped them bolting and flowering (until the last week of September). I harvested, used, froze and gave away the leaves and stems with a passion but was, happily, fighting a losing battle as there was just too much Coriander :).

  Every now and then I pulled several of the taller specimens and after eating the leaves etc, I washed and froze the roots (about a third of the length of the complete plant is root).

  Here is a prime example that went right into a curry paste:

  

  Ultimately all good things come to an end and the plants started to flower then go to seed:

   

  Once the seeds began to go brown and stop feeling waxy, I harvested them:

   

  Then the whole cycle begins anew:

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Links:

  • see more coriander posts here.
  • go to all meal ingredients
  • go the Grow It Perth calendar

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  June 12, 2016

• 

  Curry Leaf Trees

  I love curry leaf trees.

  The sight and the aroma they release when you brush past them make me smile. They can be hard to find in a nursery and they are not cheap. I got mine from Bunnings as a small seedling.

  I am keeping it to less than two meters tall through regular harvesting and pruning. The soil around it drains well and is about 6.5 to 7.0 pH. As you can see, I have removed the lower branches completely and planted other herbs around the base with no problems.

  Occasionally, ripe fruit drops and successfully germinates. I transplant these into pots and give them away once they are matured enough.

  

  Edit: I have had my first flowers (4 years in):

  

  I was a bit unsure myself what a sprig of curry leaves is as some of the recipes I use call for 10 sprigs. On the right of the plate below is about 5 sprigs, it seems a lot but trust me it is right. I am yet to ‘over do it’ on the curry leaf front ☺.

  Strip the leaves off the twigs and add them as required to the dish If you are wondering, the leaves are safe to eat.

  Fresh is best, then refrigerated from your local Asian grocer, then and only then, dried leaves. 🙂 

  

  Whenever I ask people if they want some fresh curry leaves from my kitchen garden they mostly ask what you can do with them. If you click on this link you will find a growing list of recipes that use curry leaves.

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are some curry leaf and general ingredients posts:

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  April 10, 2016

• 

  Marjoram

  Marjoram is a member of the same genus as Oregano and has a similar flavour but is milder. Like oregano it is easy to grow.

  It is an ingredient in ‘Italian Herbs’ and ‘Herbes de Provence’, both popular spice mixes. I use it primarily in pasta sauces and sprinkled over pizzas.

  

  If you are starting a herb garden from scratch this is a good choice. Both the leaves and the flowers are usable and it transplants easily. With Perth’s mild seasons it survives all year round.

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are more herbs, spices and ingredients posts. 

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  March 31, 2016

• 

  Rick Stein’s Garam Masala

  I use Rick Stein’s garam masala in so many dishes it isn’t funny. This uniquely south asian spice blend is earthy in taste and aroma. The blend is so verstile though and enhances the dishes of many cuisines.

  Sure, you could buy a garam masala from the shops. MasterFoods makes a really good one that I grew up with but making your own means that the spices haven’t lost their aroma and you get to personalise the blend.

  Rick Stein says “Even more important than the mix is having them freshly roasted and then ground” and of course, he’s right. It is a bit of extra effort but a pleasurable experience. The resulting spice mix  lasts for months in an airtight container.

  Steps:

  You will need:

  Roast the whole spices

  Pop all the spices (except the nutmeg) in a hot pan and keep them moving the whole time. Safe to say that if the smoke alarm goes off, you have dry roasted them too long or too high :).

  Experiment a bit, with the goal being more the release of the spices’ aromas in my opinion, rather than a change in their appearance.

  Mill the spices

  Once cooled, transfer everything to your blender or mortar. Grate the nutmeg (or like me use shop bought ground nutmeg, oops) separately and to the mill. Run the mill in quick bursts until you get the consistency you like. Then store in an airtight container.

  For more Rick Stein recipes click here.

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  March 9, 2016