Nutrition
| Per 1 oz (28 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 81 kcal | 286 kcal |
| Protein | 7.4 g | 26.1 g |
| Fat | 1.8 g | 6.2 g |
| saturated | 0 g | 0.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 3.2 g | 11.2 g |
| sugars | 3.2 g | 11.2 g |
| Fibre | 9.9 g | 34.8 g |
| Sodium | 162 mg | 572 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Decide what you want this for before you start. Dried cilantro is a quieter, grassier thing than the fresh bunch and will never stand in for it on a taco; it belongs in a rub, a marinade or a pot of soup, and a reader expecting otherwise will think the batch failed.
- Take the bunch early in the day, after the dew has dried and before the sun gets high. Heat on the growing plant costs you the volatile oils, and with this herb there are not many to spare.
- Swish it through cold water, shake it out hard, and spread it on a cloth until the leaves no longer look glossy. Every drop that goes into the machine is time the fan spends on water instead of on the herb.
- Pinch off the leaves and the fine upper stems and set the thick lower stems aside for stock. Those lower stems are still wet long after the leaves have gone brittle, and one of them in the jar keeps the whole jar damp.
- Pile the leaves loosely on a fine mesh insert, five or six millimetres deep. Do not press them down — the airflow has to pass through the pile, and cilantro is light enough that bare tray slats let it drop through to the element.
- Dry at 105 °F for 4 hours, but start looking early. These leaves are thin and go from limp to brittle in a hurry; a light load can be finished long before the clock says so.
- Rest the tray on the bench for a few minutes before handling it. Herbs feel crisper hot than cold, and a jar filled while the leaves are still warm sweats from the inside.
- Crumble it or leave it whole as you prefer — whole leaf keeps its flavor for longer, crumbled is quicker to measure over a pan. A tray of fresh cilantro gives back about a twelfth of its weight.
- A dark cupboard and a tight lid, and take a proper look at the jar a week on. If the glass has misted, tip the lot back onto a tray and give it another hour.
