In this video I share different techniques of how to store coriander (cilantro/dhaniya patta) and Mint (Pudina) leaves fresh or frozen or dry!
How to store mint and coriander leaves for a long time
Description
You’re all excited to make biryani you take out your mint and coriander leaves from the fridge but they’re brown and rotten 🙁 sounds familiar!
Don’t worry, today i’m going to discuss some different storage techniques for mint and coriander leaves so you don’t have to face that problem again!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Try to process the coriander leaves as soon as you get it from the grocery store
- Untie it, spread it on a paper towel and discard any rotten leaves
- You don’t want to wash the leaves, just try to pat them dry with a paper towel. Sometimes they are a little wet when they come from the grocery store
- Now really easy, we want to divide them up into small little bunches and roll them up in individual paper towels
- Make the size of the small bunch, such that you can use up the coriander leaves in one or two recipes
- Put the bunches in a ziploc bag or an airtight container
- Try to remove as much air as possible from the ziplock bag, seal it and now you can place that in your refrigerator
- As and when you need coriander leaves take out one single small bunch make sure to wash the leaves thoroughly before you use it.
- You want to make sure to again remove as much air as possible from the bag pre-seal it and put it back into the refrigerator
- This way my coriander leaves stay fresh for two weeks
- Unfortunately if you live in a hot and humid place it may not last that long but it’s definitely worth a try!
- Frozen coriander leaves can be stored for months
- Wash your coriander leaves thoroughly before you freeze them. If you try to wash frozen coriander leaves, they’ll turn slimy
- Wash them several times till the water runs clear and next we want to dry them as much as possible
- We are going to pat them dry first and then just leave it for an hour or so, so they dry up. Water droplets is your enemy when you want to freeze leaves
- Once they feel completely dry, bunch them all together, chop off the coriander stems and cut the leaves into smaller pieces.
- I like to freeze the coriander leaves and the stems separately because I use them for different recipes
- Cut the stems into smaller pieces.
- Spread the leaves and stems in trays/plates and place the trays in the freezer for about 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes they would’ve slightly frozen but they still feel like individual leaves. They haven’t stuck to form like a big blob.
- This is the time you want to put it into a ziploc bag or an airtight container and then freeze it
- Keep in mind you want to remove as much air as possible before sealing the bag
- Repeat the same thing with the stems
- One very important tip is to take out your leaves or the stems just before you’re adding it into your recipe, don’t let it sit around because frozen leaves wilt really quickly and turn kind of slimy also don’t wash frozen leaves.
- Frozen Coriander leaves can be stored for months!
- You can store dry coriander leaves (whole leaves or powdered leaves) for years in an air-tight container at room temperature
- Start by thoroughly washing all your coriander leaves
- Next, spread them on a paper towel and pat them dry as much as you can (it doesn’t have to be completely dry)
- Once they feel relatively dry, separate the leaves from the stems
- Coriander leaves dry easily but coriander stems they are quite juicy and thick so they don’t really dry that well
- You can just wrap them up in a paper towel and refrigerate them or you can freeze them like I mentioned above.
- Follow any of the methods to dry coriander leaves
- Spread the leaves on a paper towel and cover with another paper towel. This should take like two or three days to dry
- Spread the leaves on a microwave safe plate lined with a paper towel
- Microwave on high for around one minute and then check if the leaves feel dry and crisp
- It should take you anywhere between one or three minutes depending on the number of leaves you have
- This is so easy and the leaves dry up so well, that you can easily make a powder
- Don’t place the leaves directly into the airfryer basket, instead place it under the basket so they don’t fly up when the airfryer goes on.
- Set the airfryer at 180 degrees celsius or 350 degrees fahrenheit for two to three minutes and your leaves should be nice and dry and crisp!
- Discard any rotten leaves that you might find in the bunch of mint leaves.There are two methods to store fresh mint leaves. You have to try which works best for you!
- First method: Remove any leaves from the lower 1/3 segment of the stem. Ideally you would want to have two inches of stock that’s free of any leaves.
- Next, dip them in a glass of room temperature water just like you would do it for a bouquet of flowers.
- Keep in mind though change the water every other day
- This way the leaves can stay fresh from days to weeks depending on the weather
- Mine lasted for two weeks and one of them grew roots as well! I just potted that one 🙂
- Second method: Take the leaves off the stalks, (we don’t really use the stalks of mint leaves) so you can discard them
- Wash the mint leaves thoroughly
- Spread them on a paper towel and pat them dry.
- Dry them as much as you can. Leave them for an hour or so, so they don’t feel moist at all
- Once they feel completely dry, take an airtight container, line that with a paper towel and place the washed and dried leaves inside
- Cover with another paper towel, place the lid on and refrigerate it.
- This way the mint leaves stay green for a few days. You have to test it out if it works for you
- Take the mint leaves off the stalks and wash them thoroughly
- Next, pat them dry as much as possible and let them dry for an hour or so till they feel completely dry
- Transfer these to a ziploc bag or an airtight container
- Make sure to take out as much air as possible from the ziploc bag before sealing it
- You can freeze this for months
- Frozen mint leaves look slightly darker but they are aromatic they don’t stick to each other and they are good to go in any of your recipes
- Always make sure to take out the leaves just before adding it into your recipe and also don’t wash frozen leaves, it’s going to wilt and become slimy.
- You can store dried mint leaves (whole leaves or powdered mint leaves) for years in an airtight container at room temperature
- Take them off the stalks, wash the leaves thoroughly and pat them dry as much as you can (it doesn’t have to be totally dry)
- Dry mint leaves using any of the following methods
- Spread the leaves on a paper towel, cover it with another paper towel and this way it should take two to three days to completely dry up
- Spread the leaves on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high.
- Stop after one minute and check if the leaves have dried.
- It usually takes one to three minutes depending on how many leaves you’re drying
- You can easily crush them in the palm of your hands to form mint leaf powder
- Make sure to place the leaves under the airfryer basket and not directly inside so they don’t fly up while you’re drying your mint leaves
- Set the airfryer at 350 degrees fahrenheit or 180 degrees celsius for one to three minutes, till they feel nice and crisp!
Coriander leaves also called Cilantro or Dhania patta (in hindi)
How to store fresh coriander leaves
How to freeze coriander leaves
How to Dry Coriander leaves
1) Air drying:
2) Drying in a microwave oven:
3) Drying in an Airfryer:
Mint Leaves or Pudina
How to store Fresh Mint Leaves
How to Freeze Mint leaves
How to Dry Mint leaves
1) Air drying:
2) Drying using a microwave oven:
3) Drying mint leaves in an airfryer:
Video
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