Corriander

Used as a culinary spice in India, coriander is a main ingredient in Indian curry powder alongside spices such as turmeric, fenugreek, cumin, and chili. In some of the northern parts of Europe and in Russia, coriander is used to flavor alcoholic liquors, in particular, gin. Belgian-style white beer is often brewed with coriander and orange peel which gives it the characteristic spicy citrus flavor. Further, the sweet citrusy and musty aroma of the ripe seeds have been used to flavor sausages, pickles, candies, sauces and soups, and have also been distilled into essential oil. In particular, it is used in elixirs containing harsh purgatives or laxatives such as senna to mask the flavor and to moderate its propensity to cause intense cramping. Much of the traditional uses for coriander center around its carminative and stomachic activities as it has been employed to support digestion and to stimulate appetite in a variety of cultures and countries for thousands of years.

In Ayurvedic medicine coriander is often combined with caraway and cardamom seeds for use as a digestive tonic. It is energetically cooling and has a sweet, bitter and pungent taste. Similarly, in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), coriander is considered pungent in taste. It is used as a digestive tonic as well and as a flavoring to improve the taste of herbal preparations just as it has been in herbal medicine practices in the West.