Culantro and Cuban Oregano/ Broadleaf Thyme




A few days  ago I was in the shop next door . No episodes today but I came across this rather strange looking greens.  The leaves were long, bright green with spines around the edges. The packet said it was parsley (!!!!),
 I decided to buy it , it was pretty expensive too. Came home with a bunch and googled parsley. But when I googled parsley I got either flat leaf parsley or the curly parsley.. after much digging I finally came across across Thai parsley.....
Culantro
. Its most commonly known as culantro , has a flavor going towards cilantro rather than parsley but you dont get that heady smell that you get as you get in cilantro.  Its usually used in Thai food and more often in Caribbean food. (I wish they brought regular parsley instead.)

Cuban Oregano or Broadleaf thyme

Ok,  next up, Cuban Oregano .  Its also known by various other names such as Spanish oregano, Broad leaf thyme as it says here.When I was still in Malaysia my sister  told me she was growing oregano. I was a bit surprised to hear this as I thought oregano grew in slightly colder climates not in the tropics. Came home to discover these rather large leaved plant that had a very strong fragrance.  The leaves were heart shaped with slightly velvety feel and it was quite easy to grow as well.  But it was more stronger in  taste than oregano.  But i think it would be ok to use maybe one or two leaves ( as its quite strong in smell and taste as according to the  report here. Its very easy to grow as well.

I found this recipe that used both these herbs and a whole lot of herbs and used it on some chicken legs and baked them. Was pretty delicious.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kashikeyo Baipen (Screwpine fruit Porridge)

Image
I know I posted this a long time ago but I took some of my old posts out due to some comments I got but then again , I realized  different people make their recipes differently, so why bother what people say. Anyway, the first time I heard of this recipe was from my husband. We had just been married and living in Kulhudhufushi as my husband was working there for 6 months.  I love screwpine fruit and its heady perfume. So there I was making, or rather trying to make, kashikeyo kandhi and hubby kept hovering around, going that's not how my mum used to make. Yes I know ladies,  there are lots of new weds, who read this who have heard this line LOL??. Anyway , a few years later,  I finally tasted the  dish , which by the way was a totally different  dish altogether, so my hubby was right???? .   My mum in law  showed me how to make  it and I love making this, especially during Ramadhan, as its not just a desert dish , it can even be eating...
Read more

DIY Water Balloon Flip Flops!

Image
Easy and Fun DIY Water Balloon Flip Flops! S imply tie water balloons in a knot around the flip flop straps!  We liked the rainbow color pattern... Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Be creative and have fun!  F or my daughters birthday this year we made these bright and fun flip flops at the party. The girls all had a fun time making them and they can't wait to wear them to school on the same day!  We got this idea from my niece who made these at a party a few years ago.  We thought they were so cute that we wanted to try them at our party this year.  We bought black flip flops for every girl from Old Navy, for $2.50 a pair.  I would recommend going a size larger in flip flops.  We bought 3 packs of 500 water balloons and had plenty of water balloons left over, perfect for a water balloon fight! What you'll need: 8 pair flip flops in every one's sizes     1,500 water balloons 8 girls to tie the water balloons onto the flip flo...
Read more

Banbukeyo Hithi ( Breadfruit Curry)

Image
For ages I kept meaning to try one of the Hithi recipes. Hithi means bitter but this is not a bitter curry. Its called hith i because its uses a spice known locally as hithi damui . My mum kept saying its difficult getting hithi damui you can only get it from the local ayuvedhi stalls until my sister discovered after seeing the spice that it was in fact ajwain/ carom seeds . I have seen ajwain seeds in a local shop and also in some of the Indian specialty shops. Ajwain seeds although it looks a lot like tiny cumin seeds  has a slightly different taste. There  are two kinds of hithi , one is this banbukeyo ( breadfruit )  hithi and the other is maalhoskeyo hithi ( plaintain). Recipe : Banbukeyo Hithi Serves 4 -6 1/4 piece of a regular size banbukeyo (about 250g) 2 garlic cloves, finely grated 1/2 inch ginger grated 10 curry leaves small piece pandan leaf 1/4 tsp tumeric 100g smoked tuna 1 small onion thinly sliced 1/2 tsp ajwain or hithi damui 150 ml coconut milk 700...
Read more