Soya (Dill Leaves): Aloo Soya, Sowa Saag, Storage and Baby Safety

A quick correction before anything else. In a Pakistani sabzi mandi, “soya” or “sowa” doesn’t mean soybeans. It means dill: the feathery green bunch with a strong, sweet, slightly anise smell that goes into aloo soya, methi soya and sowa saag. This guide covers how to clean and cook dill leaves and seeds, the history behind gripe water, why homemade dill water is not for babies, and how to keep a bunch fresh in summer.

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Soya leaves and sowa seeds: what they are

Dill (Anethum graveolens) has well-known relatives. Lots. It belongs to the same plant family as saunf, zeera, dhania, carrot and celery. The fresh leaves go by soya, sowa or shepu depending on where you are, and in a busy mandi you may hear all three from stalls standing side by side, which is part of why so many people still assume the word has something to do with soybeans. The dried seeds, sometimes sold as sowa or suva dana, are flat, oval and light brown, looking a bit like a smaller, flatter saunf. The leaves taste fresh and green. The seeds are warmer, closer to caraway.

Fresh dill is a winter crop in most of Pakistan, piled high in mandis alongside methi, palak and bathua from roughly November to March, when a big fragrant bunch costs very little and every second cart seems to carry it. Summer dill? Thin.

Choosing a good bunch

• Bright green, fluffy fronds that spring back, not flat or wet.
• A strong, clean smell when you brush your hand over it.
• No yellow or black slimy patches near the roots.
• Tender, snappy stems that bend easily, since those get chopped straight in with the leaves and cook down to nothing in the aloo soya. Thick, woody stems with yellow flower umbrellas mean older dill, fine if you want to dry the seeds but noticeably tougher and stringier once it hits the pan with the potatoes.

How to clean and prepare dill leaves

Dill is sandy. Really. Because it grows close to the ground and its fine, feathery fronds trap every speck of soil splashed up by irrigation water, a bunch straight from the mandi can hold far more grit than you’d guess, and poor washing is exactly why some aloo soya crunches between the teeth.

1. Cut off the root ends and any yellow fronds. Pick out grass and weeds, which mandi bunches often include.
2. Fill a large bowl or sink with cold water. Swish the dill for 30 seconds and leave it 2 minutes so the sand sinks.
3. Lift the dill out with your hands. Don’t pour it through a colander, or the grit goes back over it.
4. Repeat 2 more times with fresh water, until no sand is left at the bottom.
5. Shake dry. Then spread it on a towel for 15 minutes.
6. Chop finely with tender stems. One average bunch (about 100 g) gives roughly 2 loosely packed cups chopped.

Cooking with soya: aloo soya, methi soya and sowa saag

Dill shrinks. A lot. Its flavour doesn’t, so balance matters, and too much turns a comforting potato dish into something that tastes faintly like a pharmacy shelf.

Aloo soya (serves 3 to 4)

1. Heat 3 tbsp oil. Tip in 1/2 tsp zeera and 2 whole dry red chillies.
2. Add 1 small chopped onion and fry until soft, about 5 minutes. Add 4 crushed garlic cloves.
3. Add 500 g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes, 1/2 tsp haldi, 1 tsp dhania powder, 1 tsp lal mirch and 1 tsp salt. Stir-fry 3 minutes.
4. Cover and cook on low for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the potatoes are nearly done. Sprinkle 2 tbsp water if they stick.
5. Add 1 bunch (about 100 g) chopped dill. Stir, cover and cook 5 to 7 minutes until wilted and the potatoes are soft.
6. Uncover, fry 2 minutes to dry off the moisture, and finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Methi soya

Use the same method with half a bunch of fresh methi and half a bunch of dill. Methi brings bitterness. Dill brings sweetness. Together they make something rounder, deeper and more interesting than either leaf manages alone, which is why so many Punjabi homes rarely cook one without a fistful of the other. Wash methi the same way as dill, since it’s just as sandy. For the dried leaf version, see kasuri methi.

Sowa saag

In many Punjabi homes a handful of chopped dill goes into sarson or palak saag as it simmers, about 1/2 bunch for every 1 kg of greens. It lifts them. A small handful also works in daal. Last 5 minutes. Our masoor daal guide has the base recipe.

Gripe water: a short history

It started in England. Gripe water was first sold there in the nineteenth century as a remedy for colicky, “griping” babies. Early versions were based on dill seed oil, but they also contained sugar, sodium bicarbonate and a significant amount of alcohol, which may well explain why babies seemed to settle. Alcohol was eventually removed from mainstream products, decades later and after a long stretch in which generations of parents on several continents spooned it into babies without a second thought, and many modern gripe waters sold today no longer contain dill at all.

In South Asia, gripe water became a fixture of the new-mother kit that arrived with the first visitors after a birth, sitting beside the ghutti, the surma and the packet of panjiri, and the idea that a few spoons of homemade “soya ka pani” would settle a crying baby’s tummy grew up right alongside the bottle from the chemist. Old habits stick.

Why homemade dill water is not for babies

Here tradition and baby care part ways. Firmly.

• Under 6 months, babies should have only breast milk or formula. Extra water, herbal water or sugar water fills a tiny stomach, reduces feeding, and can upset the balance of salts in the body.
• Homemade seed decoctions have no fixed strength, and kitchen water or equipment may not be clean enough for a young baby.
• Adding sugar or honey is harmful. Honey must never be given to a baby under 1 year because of the risk of infant botulism.
• Colic is common. But a crying baby can also be an unwell baby, and telling the two apart is a job for someone who can actually examine the child, listen to the chest and check for fever, not for a spoonful of something brewed on the stove.

Don’t wait it out. If a baby cries inconsolably, feeds poorly, has a fever, is vomiting, has fewer wet nappies, or seems floppy or unusually sleepy, see a doctor the same day. A baby under 3 months with a fever needs urgent medical care. Commercial gripe water? Only after talking with your baby’s doctor.

Storing dill in hot weather

Fresh dill wilts within a day on a warm counter. Don’t let it. With a damp cloth, a jar of water or a bit of freezer space, the same bunch you bought on Sunday can still be perfectly usable for aloo soya the following weekend, and the seeds last far longer again.

1. Fridge, wrapped: don’t wash first. Wrap the dry bunch loosely in a slightly damp paper towel or muslin, put it in an open plastic bag or box, and refrigerate. Keeps 5 to 7 days.
2. Jar method: trim the stems and stand the bunch in 3 cm of water in a jar, like flowers. Cover loosely with a bag and refrigerate. Change the water every 2 days. Easy.
3. Freezing: wash, dry completely, chop, and freeze flat in a zip bag. Break off what you need for cooked dishes. Keeps about 3 months. Frozen dill goes limp, so use it only in cooking.
4. Drying: spread on a tray in a shaded, airy room for 3 to 5 days until crisp, then store in an airtight jar. Milder. Use about 1 tsp dried for 1 tbsp fresh.
5. Seeds: store sowa seeds in an airtight jar away from light. Replace after about a year, when the smell fades.

For more guides to the herbs and spices in a Pakistani kitchen, browse Desi Remedies, including our pages on saunf after meals.

FAQ about soya (dill)