Love It or Hate it - Cilantro Masala


It is a Love and Hate relationship with the cilantro. The herb is referred Chinese Parsley or Coriander leaves. When I first went to grocery stores in Europe, I ended up most of the time with parsley in my cart. Later, I used to pinch the stem and smell the aroma :)

In Indian household, cilantro is used pretty much in every dish.. The leaves are sprinkled to give a final touch for any kind of curries, rice and gravy. When the leaves touch  the heated food, it infuse an aromatic flavor to the dish. Other than Indian, I cannot imagine Mexican salsa without cilantro!

I was quiet surprise to know, many people hate this herb.There is an anti cilantro community: ihatecilantro.com.. Most of them, think cilantro taste like "dish soap", bedbug, metallic, etc.... I could not even imagine all those smells relating to this beautiful, sexy herb. Well, Julia Child is among who loathes this herb. 

This dish is totally aromatic, feature mainly this herb. I got in "Aval Vikadan" Tamil Recipes booklet, don't have the edition, year, author, etc... Just reading the title, I knew I gonna love this dish. It is an excellent side dish for : idli, dosa, chapati and even for plain rice.





Ingredients:

Cilantro(kothamalli) : 1 big bunch or 2 cups firmly packed
Onion: 1 big onion- minced
Garlic: 4 to 6 cloves minced
Tamarind: 1 to 2 tsp paste (diluted in 1/4 cup water)
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Hing: a small pinch
Salt: to taste
Oil: 1 to 2 tsp


Masala-

Dry chili: 5 to 6 num (can be reduced according ur spice level)
Coriander seeds: 2 tsp
Channa dhal / bengal gram: 2 tsp
Cumin: 1/2 tsp

Dry roast and grind into fine powder.


Method:

1.Chop the leaves and stem, rinse in cold water and drain it.
2. Heat the oil, fry the onion and garlic, add the cilantro leaves, fry  for few seconds.
3. Add the tamarind juice diluted in water + hing+ turmeric (tip: add off the quantity and increase later according your taste later)
4. Add 1/4 cup of water and let it cook until the raw smell goes away.
5. Sprinkle the masala and adjust the salt and cook another 5 minutes. (if you want little watery adjust the water)

You can serve with idlis, or even plain rice.

So do you Love or Hate this poor herb?

Comments

Priya Suresh said…
Cilantro masala looks super tempting, i can have with anything,even with bread as spread...I cant cook without cilantro or mint definitely not without curry leaves..Soo am loving this masala..
Madhavi said…
Love it :)) love this cilantro masala!!
Siri said…
I Love Cilantro. use it as Garnish in almost everything I make.

I wonder - what is to hate about this fragrant herb :)

The masala looks yummy Cham.

Siri
Namitha said…
I used to hate cilantro, but now I love it :-)and this masala sounds yumm..
PreeOccupied said…
I love Cilantro and add it to almost everything I can. Just freshens up everything.
Laavanya said…
I Love it! I was quite surprised too to know that people actually don't like it.
aipi said…
Among herbs cilantro is definitely my most favorite and you have used it here to the fullest..absolutely loved it :)

US Masala
Manasi said…
I am one of the 'I LOVE Cilantro' group. I was at a store the other day where the cashier told me she loves Indian Food but HATES Cilantro, I was like, 'really???'.
I like to garnish with cilantro and love the aroma when it mingles with the dish.
Bookmarking Cilantro masala.
Unknown said…
i love cilantro and this one definitely looks good..
notyet100 said…
i can never hate this,..;-)
this one looks yum ,..
Sujatha said…
Looks delicious and perfect accompaniment for idlis.. I can smell the cilantro just from your picture.. :)
Satya said…
yummy looking Masala..
Unknown said…
Very aromatic curry perfect side dish for any thing.Ican not imagine any of my curry with out cilantro.Ialways have a bottle of green chutney in my fridge...
I m a cilantro person.So I knw that I will love this dish with hot chapatis.Yum!
Nandinis food said…
The masala is very healthy & flavourful. A must try.
Usha said…
Love cilantro and I know I would love this masala with it ! Looks delicious....
Sanjeeta kk said…
Yes, yes..both my kids belong to that Cilantro club. They pick up each bit of the leaf from their food before eating. Love the Cilantro masala.
Pavani said…
tempting masala like to grab the whole plate of idli n masala
Pavani said…
I heard Ina Garten mentioning that Cilantro tastes muddy to her. Well I was a little disappointed since as you said we Indians are so used to cilantro. Love the cilantro masala, have to try it sometime. Well on a side note, I think Parsley tastes like grass to me. I rest my case. :-)
Finla said…
I Love cilantro bu my hubby and daughter dont hate it but they dont love it too, so i tend to add less in my dishes.
Cilantro said…
Cham,
I have seen the ihatecilantro.com website too and I was suprised.
Lovely recipe!
Cilantro said…
...and of course I do love Cilantro.
kitchen queen said…
cilantro is my hot favourite.I can use it in any dish coz i love its aroma and flavour.
I love cilantro..infact without it I dont feel like cooking anything..this masala looks really yumm
sra said…
I've heard of a curry leaf masala but not this - will attempt it when I have too much of this!
Rachana said…
Cilantro is a must in my kitchen and I love it. This cilantro masala looks truly tempting.
Usha said…
Yummy masala! I like cilantro and garnish my food with it. SAying that, I am no tone of those people who would run out to the store to pick up a bunch, as soon as I am out of it.
Unknown said…
Easy n sure tasty masala
CurryLeaf said…
My mom used to make cilantro sukke when I was small,but at that time I was a staunch cilantro hater.I can only remember the aroma of the dish but never tasted it.Now, I am open to cilantro and this looks excellent Cham. Will try this.
Lakshmi said…
Must be spicy, tangy and yumm! I am just imagining the taste and getting tempted :)
vandana rajesh said…
I just love it and your kothamalli masala looks very tasty.
I love cilantro...
your looks yum...
Soma said…
Love it for me! There is nothing about cilantro and garlic together that I cannot love. Sounds so much like the green chutney i make.
Ushnish Ghosh said…
Dear Cham
How are you? I like this recipe and it is very new for me. Now there is too much Cilantro in the market ...and cheap too.
There is a good recipe in my blog " Broad beans in Cilantro paste..try it.
I like Cilantro, but use it with restrain in very specific dishes. It may sometimes interfere badly with other spices..
I will be off blog. But let me see what all I have missed here.
Have a nice week
Raks said…
This is a unique recipe,love it,no doubts!
Unknown said…
hey this onz a lovely recipe.

like ur space & following u now :)

http://www.relishdelish.blogspot.com