Dried cilantro (coriander) for the winter: how and when to dry herbs and cilantro seeds at home

You can dry the entire above-ground part for the winter, but to obtain a higher-quality product, you need to take fresh, green leaves of a young plant, without waiting for the seeds to appear.

If you have time, you can immediately sort and dry the leaves separately and the stems separately. To do this, wash a bunch of greens and tear off the leaves in one direction and the stems in the other.

You should not chop the leaves; they will already dry out and become significantly smaller. The stems should be cut and laid out to dry in the fresh air in the shade.

The sun's rays will speed up drying, but will take away the green color, and the cilantro will turn brown, or brown. This will not affect the quality in any way, so it is a matter of taste.

When dried in an electric dryer, cilantro will retain its green color, but there is a high risk of overdrying the greens, resulting in rot. Therefore, set the temperature to no more than +50 degrees and control the drying process. Once every hour, turn off the dryer, rearrange the trays, and check the degree of drying.It’s better to turn off the dryer a little earlier and dry the greens in the fresh air.

The seeds of cilantro, that is, coriander, ripen at the end of summer.

They still have the same green color and round shape. To collect seeds, cut the entire plant at the root, tie it into bunches and hang it, seeds down, in a dry and ventilated room. When the seeds turn brown, you can start threshing. Knock the seeds out of the umbrellas and rub the seeds between your palms to remove the shell.

Then, you need to “winnow” the seeds to blow away dry leaves and scales.

You can grind coriander seeds in a coffee grinder and store for up to 1 year in an airtight container.

How to properly dry cilantro, watch the video: