Corriandar (කොත්තමල්ලි)

Coriander is commonly found both as whole dried seeds and in ground form. Roasting or heating the seeds in a dry pan heightens the flavour, aroma, and pungency. Ground coriander seed loses flavour quickly in storage and is best ground fresh. Coriander seed is a spice in garam masala and Indian curries, which often employ the ground fruits in generous amounts together with cumin, acting as a thickener in a mixture called dhana jeera. Roasted coriander seeds, called dhana dal, are eaten as a snack. They are the main ingredient of the two south Indian dishes sambar and rasam.

Outside of Asia, coriander seed is used widely in the process for pickling vegetables. In Germany and South Africa (see boerewors), the seeds are used while making sausages. In Russia and Central Europe, coriander seed is an occasional ingredient in rye bread (e.g. Borodinsky bread), as an alternative to caraway. The Zuni people of North America have adapted it into their cuisine, mixing the powdered seeds ground with chili and using it as a condiment with meat, and eating leaves as a salad.

Coriander seeds are used in brewing certain styles of beer, particularly some Belgian wheat beers. The coriander seeds are used with orange peel to add a citrus character. Coriander seed is one of the main traditional ingredients in the South African Boerewors, a spiced mixed-meat sausage.

Flower : The flowers are borne in small umbels, white or very pale pink, asymmetrical, with the petals pointing away from the center of the umbel longer (5–6 mm or 0.20–0.24 in) than those pointing toward it (only 1–3 mm or 0.039–0.118 in long).

Fruit : The fruit is a globular, dry schizocarp 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) in diameter. Pollen size is approximately 33 microns.

Uses : All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the parts most traditionally used in cooking, Coriander is used in cuisines throughout the world.
The leaves are variously referred to as coriander leaves, fresh coriander, dhania, Chinese parsley, or (in the US and commercially in Canada) cilantro.

Coriander potentially may be confused with culantro (Eryngium foetidum L.), an Apiaceae like coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), but from a different genus. Culantro has a distinctly different spiny appearance, a more potent volatile leaf oil and a stronger aroma.

Height : 50 cm (20 in) tall

Leaves : The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the flowering stems.