Saturday 19 September 2020

Indoor air dried screw pine leaf ( pandan leaf) and its powder



 

                                                                                                                                                     Dried screw pine leaf and powder


Screw pine  leaves are narrow elongated leaves that comes in a bunch of leaves. It can grow up to 2 metres. But it is harvested shorter.                                                    

                                            Screw pine leaf

      

Screw pine is called  by different names. Daun  pandan in Malaysian,  Bai Toey Hom inThai,  Rampa in Hindi and Sinhalese(Sri Lanka) Takonoki in Japanese, Chan Xiang Lan in Mandarin and Screw pine in English.

It is a fragrant spice used in coconut rice called nasi lemak  using knotted pandan leaf.It is served with fried yellow tail fish,fried sprats and fried peanuts, fried chicken wing, bullseye egg or boiled egg, sambal and slices of cucumber . You can choose to your taste. It will be a delicious meal. I cook this rice using pandan powder and lemon grass powder.

It is used in meat curries and variety of sweets and sweet desserts. It is used in steaming, boiling and as wrapper for Glutinous sticky rice. 

Juice is extracted from bruised leaf to make Pandan Chiffon cake which is famous in Singapore and Malaysia. 

kaya bread spread is also made from pandan leaf and coconut milk.


 Pandan leaves are used as cockroach repellent in the house and cars.

 Pandan leaves are rich in essential oils.

 When it comes to storage place the fresh pandan leaves in a plastic bag and store in the vegetable compartment for 4 days. If you want to keep for long it is said to freeze in baking sheet. Then keep in the zip lock bag and freeze.

Today I am going to dry pandan leaves indoors and get pandan powder.


                                 Recipe summery                                                                                       For                                                                   Indoor air dried Screw pine leaf and its powder                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Preparation Time : 30 minutes                                                      Drying time:  one week                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Air dried screw pine leaf               Method:                                                                                                        1. Snip the leaves separately.                                                        2. Cut away the bottom of the leaves.                                          3. Wash well since there will be sand and dirt.                            4. Place in along towel and wipe out the water.                          5. Cut into three parts of each leaf.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Fresh cut leaves                                    6. Place in a kitchen towel or news paper and leave it                    to dry in an airy place.  Direct sun is not needed.                    7. Stir now and then everyday.                                                      8. When it is dry cut into small pieces                                              and grind in a grinder.                                                               9. When it is cooled store in a bottle.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Indoor air dried Screw pine leaf  and its powder is ready.         

Recipe follows in detail with pictures

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Drying time: one week 


Preparation:


Snip the leaves separately. Cut away the bottom of the leaves. Wash well since there will be sand and dirt. Place in a long towel and wipe out the water. Cut into three parts of each leaf.                                                               


Cut fresh leaves

                                                                             

Place on a kitchen or news paper and leave it to dry in an airy place.  Stir now and then every day.  Direct sun is not needed.  

When it is dry cut into small pieces and grind in a grinder.


When is cooled store in a bottle.


Screw pine leaf powder

I dried 270 grams leaves and got 30 grams powder.



                      

                                                  








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