But first, as far as any natural remedies in this post (or anywhere else on my blog) go, please see my disclaimer.
I didn't start cooking until I was 24, and I started with Ayurvedic Indian food. I didn't realize how adventurous I was being, as a cooking virgin. The recipes were full of items I'd never heard of, like asafoetida and turmeric. But I knew cilantro from eating it in guacamole, even if I had never cooked with its seeds, called coriander (in the UK, coriander is used to refer to the leaf and seeds of the plant).
Cilantro/coriander's leaves taste astringent and sweet. In Ayurveda, this makes coriander very cooling. Wherever there is fire, coriander will be there! You do start to notice that it's used most commonly in dishes that also contain chillies: Indian, Thai, Mexican and Chinese foods. It also goes well with sour tastes, as in yogurt dips (yogurt being sour) or with lime, as a garnish.
Some people have a huge aversion to coriander leaves because they find it tastes a bit like soap. I'm in the 'love it' category. The seeds of the plant are much more tolerable, lacking the funny flavour that puts some off the leaves. I use the ground seed in place of the leaves if I have to (I'd rather not). The leaves have the stronger flavour, so it's not usually advised to substitute them for the seed, but hey, rules are made to be broken. I like to use a bit (or a lot, depending) of ground seed along with the leaves to sort of 'layer' the flavours: meaning, if you have a dish and it calls for coriander, putting a bit of ground seed in with the leaf creates more complexity in the flavours in the dish. As an example, you can also layer flavours when you need a dish to be hot: heat can come from black, white, green, pink or red peppercorns; or from dried chillies of all sorts; horseradish, wasabi, mustard; perhaps try putting in two or three items from the same taste 'category' instead of only one, and adjusting amounts accordingly, so you don't overload the dish with heat but you build the flavours in complexity. Curry powder, for example, has heat from black mustard seeds, ginger and black pepper. It has sweetness from fennel and cinnamon. And so on. Hopefully that makes sense.
Here's where I use coriander/cilantro the most:
*leaves as a garnish in Chinese style stir-fries, ground coriander seed as part of the spice in the stir fries; a bit of coriander seed is nice in other hot or sour Chinese dishes where you might not use the leaves;
*Thai dishes such as Tom Yum soup, Thai curries, Thai rice and noodle dishes. I cook the coriander stems along with other vegetables in the curries and soups, then sprinkle the leaves over at the end, and ground coriander seed and stems would almost always go into a home-made curry paste if I was making it;
*Indian foods: chutneys, any Indian curry, vegetable dish, rice dish, home made curry powder, and Ayurvedic teas;
*Mexican dishes: chili tomato rice, guacamole, most chili-laden Mexican dishes. Cilantro also freshens and 'greens' up a Mexican dish that has cheese, helping to cut through the sour and oily qualities. The leaves are excellent as a balance to spicy mole sauces, and the stems could be cooked with any roasted veg that you're putting into your enchilada;
*yogurt dips: leaves and ground seed, perhaps with lemon and cucumber? Sort of like Tzatziki?
*Chutney! Recipe below.
*summer drinks: pound up a few sprigs of coriander with a handful of mint leaves, pour boiling water on them, steep for a while and drink; or, steep then chill it in the fridge, add some lime juice and a bit of stevia or raw agave nectar and enjoy your cilantro mint ice tea. Yum!
*digestive tea: one of the most popular Ayurvedic recipes is a soothing tea to drink at anytime, for anyone, made of 1 teaspoon each: coriander seed, cumin seed and fennel seed (use whole seeds). Place the seeds in a pot, add a pint or two of water, boil, turn to a simmer, simmer for a few minutes, covered, then strain and drink. This healing brew is helpful for indigestion, acid stomach, cystitis, sluggish digestion and many other conditions. You can make some in the morning and take it in a thermos to sip on throughout the day.
As a natural remedy, cilantro is a great herb in the summer because it's so cooling. Meaning, it's helpful if you're prone to heat rash, excess sweat, irritability, if you have acidity, internal inflammation (anything ending in 'itis' like cystitis), skin irritation or other 'fiery' conditions; or if you just need to cool off. The juice is a good thing to drink (along with unsweetened, pure cranberry juice) for urinary tract infections. The juice also soothes skin rashes and burns, burning sore throats, and is excellent for intestinal disorders and as a blood cleanser. I would guess that this is because, as a sweet and astringent tasting green plant food (like cucumbers and avocados), cilantro is powerfully alkaline. That means it counteracts the acidic effects of foods like sugar, coffee, alcohol, wheat, corn, dairy, meat, etc.
To make cilantro juice, wash a bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro in cold water, then run them through a juicer. If you don't have a juicer, put the washed bunch in a blender with a cup or two of water (depending on the size of the bunch) and blend. If you want to make more of a paste to place on heat rash or irritated skin, then add water slowly, in a trickle, while blending until you have the desired consistency. Apply where needed (but not on broken skin - see you doctor).
How to keep your cilantro fresher for longer if you buy a bunch of it from your local vegetable market? Treat it like a bunch of flowers. Snip off the very ends of the stems and place it in a short glass or jar with a bit of water (not enough water to reach up to the leaves, only about an inch or so of the stems). Then you can just leave it on the windowsill or maybe place it in the fridge.
Or, if you buy a bunch of cilantro and know you won't be able to get through it all, make a chutney. This is a really delicious topping for curries or basmati rice. It's also nice as a dip for South Indian flatbreads - like papadums, dosas or kallappams.
Coriander Coconut Chutney
1 packed cup fresh coriander leaves
1/3 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut flakes
1 teaspoon honey
¼ - ½ teaspoon salt (not table salt - sea, rock, kosher or iodized)
2 Tablespoons lime juice (about 1 small/medium lime)
1/2 inch fresh ginger root, peeled with the tip of a spoon and minced
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional!)
1/2 teaspoon (or a bit less) cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon (or a bit less) coriander powder
Blend the coriander and lime juice until chopped; add a little water if it's too thick. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until you have a paste-like consistency (again, adding minimal amounts of water if needed).
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This is a great post - thank you for sharing!
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