Indian Herbs
Each and every herbs have their own distinguish flavor. Little amount of herb goes long way. Fresh herbs brings exotic flavor to any dish. Growing herbs is not so difficult. There are some herbs listed below with how to grow, care and harvest. Learn easy way to grow herbs and bring unique flavor and aroma in your kitchen.
Watch video of how to grow Methi(Fenugreek Leaves)
Fenugreek leaves(Methi) | Choose a location where you get at least a couple of hours of sunshine. Before planting, add organic compost (which is available in all nurseries and home and gardening stores) to the soil and blend it with the top six inches of the soil. Sow the seeds and cover it lightly with soil. Water thoroughly. Later water every 2-3 days. You will see nature take its course and you will enjoy aromatic oval fenugreek leaves in 8-10 days. You can just cut off the tender leaves and it will harvest for 2-3 weeks before it gets leggy. Once the plant gets leggy, remove and sow new seeds again. |
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Cilantro(Coriander leaves) 
Dhaniya | Choose a spot in your garden that is well drained and receives full to partial sun. Cilantro will grow in most soil conditions. Sow cilantro seeds on the top of the bed and lightly cover with soil after all danger of frost has passed around the month of April. Water thoroughly. Thin plants to 6 inches apart after the plants have two to three sets of leaves. Water once or twice a week during dry periods. Add a general-purpose fertilizer mid-season to ensure rich foliage. Harvest the leaves as needed by pinching off. Coriander seeds can be harvest in the second year after the flower heads form. Cut the flower stem off and hang to dry over a bucket or other container. The drying seeds will fall into the bucket. You can use the seeds in cooking or replant them for future crops. |
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More tips for growing best cilantro
Coriander should be sown every few weeks to ensure a continuous crop through the growing season. If sowing outdoors then wait till May to ensure warm soil temperatures which will promote more successful germination. Sow seeds in drills around 1cm deep and then cover with soil / compost. Space rows around 35cm apart. Sow seeds around 4cm apart.
Seeds will take a few days either side of 2 weeks to germinate. Once the seedlings are about 4-5cm high you can thin them down to about 20cm apart.
If growing in containers then make sure the container is at least 15cm deep so that the tap root can develop.
Coriander is sensitive to transplanting and the shock can cause boliting. Because of this it is advisable to sow coriander seeds where you want them to remain. If growing outside then weed, dig over and rake the soil before planting.
Cilantro is known as chinese parsley as well.
Mint(Pudina) | Buy mint plants at the nursery for planting in early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked. Mint does not grow well from seed. Mint grows vigorously. It will cover whole ground if you grow on open ground. It's better to grow in a big pot. Set plants 12 to 18 inches apart, depending on the variety. Keep the soil moist until the plants are established. Pinch stem ends off each spring to keep plants bushy. At the end of the gardening season, prune plants back to near ground level and top-dress with compost. Harvest sprigs as you need them throughout the growing season. |
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Dill(sowa bhaji) | The best way to grow dill is directly from seeds rather than from a transplant. Planting dill seed is easy. Dill planting is simply done by scattering the seeds in the desired location after the last frost. Then lightly cover the seeds with soil. Water the area thoroughly. Growing dill plants and caring for dill plants is also very easy. Dill weed plants grow best in full sun. Other than this, dill will grow happily in both poor and rich soil or in damp or dry conditions. To harvest the dill leaves, regularly trim off the desired amount of leaves you need for cooking. If you wish to harvest dill seeds, allow the plant to grow without trimming until it goes into bloom. Once dill weed plants go into bloom, they will stop growing leaves, so make sure that you do not harvest any leaves from that plant. The dill flower will fade and will develop the seed pods. When the seed pods have turned brown, cut the whole flower head off and place in a paper bag. Gently shake the bag. The seeds will fall out of the flower head and seed pods and you will be able to separate the seeds from the waste. |
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Green Garlic(Lasan)
Growing garlic is extremely easy. Following video instructions make it very easy to bloom your garden with garlic. Green garlic can be used as garnishing(works great on soups) or can be used in many other recipes such as indian curries, pesto and much more. I use in recipes in place of regular garlic. Also, if recipe calls for chives, I use green garlic.