Coriander Seeds

Coriander seeds are the dried fruit of the same plant that gives fresh coriander leaves, but they taste completely different: warm, citrusy and slightly sweet. They are crushed into pickles, dropped whole into some Gujarati and Rajasthani tempering, and above all ground into masalas. In Sinhala they are called koththamalli, and they share the pan with dry ginger in sukku malli coffee, a hot drink loved in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna.

Indian coriander is small, round and pale green to beige, while some seed is larger and more golden, and either works for grinding. If you make your own sambar powder or Sri Lankan roasted curry powder, whole coriander is the base, used in far larger amounts than cumin or fennel, so buying whole makes sense for regular cooks.

Toast coriander seeds in a dry pan on a low to medium flame, stirring, until they turn a shade darker and the kitchen smells of citrus, then cool and grind. For a Sri Lankan roasted curry powder, take them further, to a deep brown. Whole seeds keep for a year in a sealed jar. For ready ground, see coriander powder, and for more seeds browse whole spices, including fennel seeds.