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Coriander curiousby Ari LeVaux The spice that we call coriander typically comes in the form of brown, dry hard balls that are crushed or ground into powder before use. Gardeners, their friends, and customers of savvy growers and grocers also have an opportunity to cook with green coriander seeds. After the delicate petals drop from a flower, that flower’s ovary develops into a seedpod, which contains two cilantro seeds. These swollen, green pearls are alive and tender, succulent and spicy. Last week I went to the garden to fetch some cilantro for a batch of guacamole. This time of year the cilantro plants, like many leafy plants in my garden, are bolting-aka, going to seed. Generally, when plants that are eaten for their leaves bolt, the leaves become too bitter for most palates. Cilantro leaves don’t actually really change flavor, but they shrink and grow skinny when the plant bolts. My spindly and sparse cilantro leaves didn’t amount to enough material to flavor my guacamole, but some of the flowers had already morphed into seedpods, so I harvested a small handful of these instead. I beat them in a mortar and pestle with garlic, and stirred the resulting light green paste into mashed avocado, and stirred in chopped onion, salt, pepper, ripe tomato chunks and lime juice. The coriander pods shifted the guacamole flavor a few degrees brighter and more exotic than it would have been with cilantro leaves. The next evening I continued my green coriander research by making more paste with garlic and smearing it on a piece of salmon, over which I poured soy sauce, and baked. It was splendid, but the salmon seemed to absorb much of the green coriander flavor. Rather than triple the quantity I used on another piece of salmon, as I suspected was necessary, I tried the same size handful with a filet of Alaskan cod, a milder fish. I fried a small handful of green coriander in butter, then added the fish, along with some chopped garlic. When the fish was almost done, I added a squeeze of lime juice and salt. That pretty much nailed it for me. There are reports that green coriander goes well in cucumber pickles, as a replacement for dill. I know from personal experience it can find a happy home in soups, chutneys and stir-fries. But perhaps my favorite way of using them is in a garden vegetable-oriented, Thai-style coconut curry. As an added bonus, you can, and should, use the root as well. In Thailand, cilantro root is used in many dishes, including curry. The root is skinny and woody, with a mild, celery-like flavor. Summer Green Curry with Green Coriander Ingredients Green coriander seeds One medium onion, chopped Three garlic cloves, minced One can of full-fat coconut milk Three tablespoons green curry paste (If making it from scratch – a big if – use the cilantro root in the paste) Protein, if you wish, such as slow-fried tofu, or some kind of animal flesh, prepared as appropriate. The cod described above is really good in it. One lime, cut and ready to squeeze Soy sauce Cooking oil (I like rice bran oil) Fish sauce (optional, stinky and awesome) Chicken bullion (optional) Cilantro root, washed and minced Your choice of chile (chili) heat In a pan or wok, heat cooking oil on medium. Add chopped onion and brown it, stirring often. Add vegetables in reverse order of how long it takes them to cook. For example, start with sliced carrots, then wait a few minutes, then zucchini rounds, garlic and sliced cilantro root. A few minutes later, mushrooms, along with your separately cooked proteins. Reserve the fast-cooking veggies for later.
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