You always hear and read that one must include greens as much as possible in the diet. Whenever I think of leafy green vegetable only spinach (palak) and fenugreek leaves (methi) pops in my mind. Both of these veggies when added to any dish indeed boost the taste and bestow the attractive green colour, which I love. Do you too?
Fortunately, spinach is available throughout the year in most
of the countries but fenugreek leaves, sadly can be seen only in the winters.
The dark green, flavourful magical leaves which are must in so many dishes like
methi mutter pulav, methi thepla or simple gajar methi subji is lovely. Wouldn’t
you like to enjoy this nutritious vegetable all over the year? Now you CAN.
I got an email,
Hi, shweta,
I find the Tuesday’s
tip section very helpful and I was wondering if there is any method via which I
can store methi leaves fresh for long time.Drying leaves method
is common and in any case dried leaves are available in the market. I
wanted a way through which I can store leaves ‘fresh’. I will be looking
forward for the tip.
Mails like these are appreciated :-) I wondered -if I could
find the answer many of you ladies will be happy. I experimented twice and
thank god I succeeded second time.
So, here I present before you the full proof way through
which you can store “FRESH” methi leaves for atleast 10 months without
compromising the colour, flavour or taste. I have done it and it is a sure shot
tip. May be I am late sharing on my post (as winters are almost over) but if
you can still find methi in the market- buy now and buy in bulk- Buy :-)
What you need to do? Take methi leaves and chop them very roughly (no washing) needed. Take silver/aluminium/kitchen foil and place
chopped leaves on it. Fold the foil (not tightly, just cover all leaves well)
and put in Ziploc bags and freeze it. Whenever you want to use it, wash and add
in the dish you are making . I made 2 batches from one bunch of leaves and put both
of them in 1 Ziploc bag.
You might ask:
Q-What will happen if you wash it?
A- Due to water, moisture content will increase and thus methi
leaves will be rotten.
Q- Why can’t you close the foil tightly?
A- It is certainly important that you cover the leaves completely
with foil, but applying any tight pressure will again lead to moisture.
Q- How to chop- with or without stem?
A- I find that stems also have certain flavor (the
bitter tint) which I personally like, so I use the stems as well. But if you
want, you can totally pluck leaves –in that case, don’t chop them, just chop
before use.
