Hara Dhania: Keep Fresh Coriander Green for 2 Weeks, Grow a Pot

You buy a fat bunch of hara dhania for ten rupees’ worth of garnish, and by day three it’s a slimy green lump at the back of the fridge. Keeping fresh coriander green for close to two weeks is easy once you stop storing it wet and crushed in the plastic bag it came in.

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Picking a bunch that will last

Storage can’t rescue a tired bunch. Start at the cart. At the sabzi wala, look for leaves that stand up rather than flop, a clean green colour with no yellow edges, and a sharp, almost citrusy smell when you rub one leaf. Bunches with roots still attached usually last longer, and you should avoid any bunch that’s been sitting in a puddle on the cart, or that has dark wet patches in the middle, because rot spreads from there.

Small-leafed desi dhania tends to smell stronger than the big, flat hybrid kind. In peak summer, when coriander bolts and goes stringy, buy smaller amounts more often.

Two ways to keep fresh coriander for two weeks

The jar method (whole bunches)

1. Untie the bunch at home. Pick out any yellow or mushy sprigs straight away.
2. Cut off the roots (keep them if you want them for chutney) and trim about 1 cm off the stem ends with a sharp knife.
3. Don’t wash it yet. Stand the bunch in a glass or jar holding 2 to 3 cm of clean water, like flowers.
4. Drop a loose plastic bag or a cut-open bread bag over the leaves. Loose, not tight. It should hold humidity without trapping drops on the leaves.
5. Put the jar in the fridge door or a middle shelf, away from the back wall where things freeze.
6. Change the water every 2 days and pull out any leaf that has gone limp.

The paper method (washed or picked leaves)

1. If the bunch is muddy, wash it now (see below), then dry it properly. Spin it in a salad spinner or lay it on a clean kitchen towel under a fan for 20 to 30 minutes. It must feel dry to the touch, not just drip-free.
2. Pick leaves with their thin upper stems. Keep thick stems separately.
3. Line an airtight box with a double layer of paper towel or a clean soft cotton cloth.
4. Lay the dhania in loosely, no pressing. Cover with another sheet of paper and close the lid.
5. Check every 3 to 4 days. If the paper feels damp, swap it for a dry sheet.

Washing off soil and spray residue

Coriander grows close to the ground, so grit hides in the stem joints, and it’s also a crop that may be sprayed, which means you can’t remove every residue at home, but a good wash removes surface dirt and a fair part of what sits on the leaf.

1. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Hold the bunch by the stems and swish it for 30 seconds.
2. Lift the coriander out, rather than pouring the water off, so the settled soil stays behind.
3. Empty the bowl, refill and repeat 2 or 3 times until no grit sits at the bottom.
4. If you like, do a final soak for 10 to 15 minutes in 1 litre of water with 1 level teaspoon of baking soda, then rinse under running water.
5. Dry it before storing, or use it straight away.

Skip soap. Salt water and vinegar soaks are common at home; they don’t do harm, but plain repeated rinsing plus the baking soda soak is the simpler routine.

Stems are not rubbish

Many Pakistani kitchens toss the stems and keep only the patti, which is a waste, because stems are crunchy and carry a stronger, greener flavour than the leaves ever will. Keep them. Finely chop the tender upper stems and add them to hari chutney with pudina, green chilli and a squeeze of lemon. The thick lower stems can go in with the onions at the start of a chicken salan or a pot of yakhni, then get fished out. Chopped stems also work in shami kabab mixture and in chana chaat.

For a pot of salan serving four, a small handful of leaves (about 2 tablespoons chopped) at the end is a normal garnish. Add leaves off the heat; they lose aroma within minutes of boiling.

Growing hara dhania in a pot

A pot on a balcony or a sunny windowsill gives you small, fragrant leaves on demand, and in the plains of Pakistan the easy season is roughly October to February, because in hot summer months plants run to flower fast. Hilly areas can sow later into spring.

1. Take a pot at least 20 to 25 cm wide and deep with drainage holes.
2. Fill it with loose soil mixed with a little compost or well-rotted manure.
3. Take 1 to 2 tablespoons of whole dhania seed from your kitchen. Press each round seed gently with a rolling pin so it splits into halves.
4. Soak the split seeds in water for 8 to 12 hours.
5. Scatter them over the soil and cover with about 1 cm of soil. Water gently.
6. Keep the soil moist, not muddy. Sprouts usually appear in 7 to 14 days.
7. Give it 4 to 5 hours of sun. Start snipping outer leaves once plants are about 10 to 15 cm tall, often 3 to 4 weeks in.
8. Sow a fresh small batch every 2 to 3 weeks so you always have young plants.

When a plant sends up a tall central stalk with feathery leaves, it’s bolting, and from then on the leaves turn thin and sharp. That’s the end. Let a few flower. Free seed.

More herbs and spices from the same shelf live under Desi Remedies. If you grind your own powder from the seed, see homemade dhania powder.