Coriander Seeds

Description

Thania seeds are rich, aromatic and completely different to the fresh, green herb. These lovely, fragrant, round seeds can be light cream to brown in colour and can be used either as a whole spice or as a crushed powder. As a seed, the aromatic released gives a warming, gentle, citrus flavour with a nutty texture, and you can amplify this fragrance by lightly toasting the spice. I like to store these seeds whole and then crush them as and when I need them so the powder is always as fresh and zingy as possible. Speaking of which, it's actually quite hard to get a powder when you're bashing the seeds in a pestle and mortar, but that's ok as all you're really doing is breaking down the seeds to release their natural oils (obvioulsy, use a spice grinder if you really want a fine powder). So when you need to lift your dish with a little light zestiness, then coriander seeds do the job perfectly, especially for fish dishes and marinades. Healthwise, these seeds can help to reduce cholesterol and by boiling them in water, they release compounds that are said to help remedy the sniffles. Good to know!