THE DILL TRAIL

Dr. Kaviraj Khialani

3 years ago

Dill, a popular sharp and pungent green from the herb family, is well known to us. It is one of those interesting ingredients available all year round and can be easily incorporated into our meal plans and variety of dishes although we are a little picky and choosy about using it very often.

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It is one of those fresh herbs that has well placed itself in a variety of courses and categories of dishes in various international cuisines. My experience with dill has been wonderful and it’s great to add it into lentils, dough for paratha, or even pasta for that matter. I also tried gnocchi with potato and semolina, once, with a touch of dill in it, and it was just wonderful to go along a nice saffron cream sauce and wild mushrooms!

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Dill leaves, also called ‘sua bhaji’ or ‘shepu‘ in our local markets, are best to use fresh, although some of us also dry and store it for later use depending on recipes. It’s always good to refresh it under running water and place it in chilled water for a few minutes before using it. This multi-tasking flavour bunch, as I usually address it, has a lot to offer us nutritionally as well.

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Health Benefits of Dill Leaves:

Dill leaves are a good source of manganese, iron and magnesium.
They are also regarded as a good source of calcium, and are good for bone health.
They are good for the kidneys and spleen, prevents infectious diarrhoea.
Dill is known to be helping activate bile and digestive secretions.
It is also considered to be a good immunity boosting ingredient.
It has calming properties and also helps in insomnia.
Dill leaves help manage diabetes and also prevent excessive gas.
It is helpful in free radical protection, to stop hiccups, and is also an anti-bacterial rich ingredient.

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Here are a Few Culinary Uses of Dill Leaves:

Dill has been in our Indian kitchens in numerous ways and in all seasons. I remember mix dal vadas with dill during monsoon with a curry leaf chutney and a piping hot cuppa filter coffee.
Dill goes well with dals and lentils in daily cooking as well, yellow moong dal tadka with a handful of dill is just too good.
I also enjoy dill with cucumber, mint, garlic and greek yogurt in the form of a summer salad, a chilled dip format to go with crackers works well too!
Dill in parathas either in the dough or in the stuffing with boiled mashed sweet potatoes, green chili and a dash of roasted crushed jeera is great with a bowl of curd.
Seafood has been well associated with dill leaves and a lot of continental, far-east and even American and English recipes use dill with Salmon, Bassa and other varieties including butter garlic prawns with dill is yum!
Dill aur soy ka dum pulao: try this one with brown rice with a tempering of Bayleaf, peppercorns and green chilies. This pulao is a sure hit with boondi ka raita!
Salad dressings with mayonnaise also prefer dill with seafood elements attached, for instance the tuna dill potato salad is very popular with mayo and splash of lime into it.
Getting dill into baking: Some of my all-time favorites remain the roasted garlic and dill bread rolls, sun-dried tomato and dill baguettes, dill and olive croissants with cream cheese, dill and peri – peri spice tomato bread.

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Here are some easy to make and tasty recipes with Dill: