Coriander seeds provide many health benefits to humanity. Ayurvedic practitioners use these incredible, seeds when they prepare their medicines. They don’t need multinational Pharmaceutical companies to prepare the formula for a simple, effective, and natural medicine. I remember my father used to say that the President of our country always took coriander water for his cold and flu and that he used to go to the doctor only as a last resort.
As a little girl, whenever I had a cold or mild fever, the homemade remedy was coriander water made from coriander seeds, black pepper, and ginger. You take these magic potions three times a day, and after a few days, you can run a marathon.
Almost for all our cooking, my mother used curry leaves for garnishing and tempering. I came to know the value of coriander leaves when I lived in England. The nearby shops in Wembley had plenty of Indian grocery stores, which sold heaps of coriander leaves. It was impossible to buy curry leaves, as curry leaf plants were nonexistent in England’s winter. Once I got the right flavour in my dishes with the coriander leaves, I enjoyed the taste.
After I emigrated to Australia, I planted a few curry plants without much success; Eventually, I have two beautiful lush curry plants in my garden. I was very keen to grow the coriander leaves in my backyard. Sometimes bought coriander bunches with roots from shops and planted them in pots. Other times bought small coriander pots with plants. Nothing seemed to work; after a week, the coriander plants died.
I had been surfing the net and YouTube videos for ways to grow coriander plants. A couple of months ago, I came across a You Tube video on how to grow coriander plants by an Agricultural Researcher in India. I don’t remember his name, but he said the seeds had to be broken into halves to speed up germination and soaked for 24 hours before being planted in soil.
So I have gone on a mission to grow coriander plants in this lockdown period.
- I took a handful of dry coriander seeds and placed them on a hand towel on Thursday, 5 August 21.
- After folding the hand towel, used a stone pestle to gently pound the coriander into halves. You can use rolling pin instead of pestle.
- Soaked the broken coriander seeds in cold water for 24 hours
- On Friday, 6 August 21, planted the seeds in a pot with fertile potting mix.
- On Wednesday, 11 August 21, a few seeds germinated.
- I had been sprinkling water daily in the seeds, and the pot is sitting in an area where it gets plenty of sunlight.
- The picture I took today, 23 August 21, has plenty of germinated coriander seeds with juvenile leaves after 17 days.
- The harvesting of coriander leaves may take a few more weeks.
- Best time to grow coriander is Autumn and Spring. You can grow throughout the year if you keep the plant frost-free, having it in a Greenhouse or indoor.
Travel and Food with Yoga 