The best recipes for preparing dill for the winter, which one is best for preservation, how to preserve the aroma

Dill has been a popular and widespread spice in many cultures since ancient times. Today it can be found in the kitchen of almost every housewife. In addition to its specific taste, this herb is also famous for its medicinal properties, which are actively used in traditional and folk medicine. Greens are used in many dishes and housewives try to prepare dill for winter dishes in such a way that it does not lose its beneficial properties.

Composition and beneficial properties

The herbaceous herb called dill is an annual plant. Its shoots and leaves will add a fragrant aroma to every dish, from hot dishes to appetizers. The thing is that the herb contains a special oil that gives the plant a pleasant smell.

In addition, the seasoning contains many vitamins:

1. Ascorbic acid – helps speed up the absorption of iron in the body; participates in the functioning of the immune system.
2. Vitamin A - helps strengthen the immune system, has a positive effect on the skin, visual organs, and also enhances the ability to procreate.
3. Beta-carotene – gives dill its antioxidant properties.
4. Thiamine.
5. Riboflavin.
6. Pyridoxine.
7. Pantothenic acid.
8. Alpha tocopherol.

A lot of minerals are also present in dill:

1. Calcium and potassium.
2. Magnesium.
3. Phosphorus and iron.
4. Sodium.
5. Copper and manganese.
6. Zinc.

All other useful components included in the chemical composition of dill, as well as essential oil, stimulate appetite, increase the efficiency of the stomach and regulate metabolism. Spice, in general, has a positive effect on the functioning of the digestive system, can normalize blood pressure and reduce the risk of possible diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Patients suffering from kidney pathologies or cystitis can use this herb as food during an exacerbation - this will alleviate their condition.

In addition, moderate consumption of the seasoning will calm the nervous system, relieve causeless headaches and have a diuretic and choleretic effect.

Attention! Experts recommend including dill in their diet for people who have pathologies of the kidneys, liver, gallbladder, gastritis and flatulence. As for the nutritional value of the herb, supporters of slim figures can rest easy. 100 grams of dill contains only 40 calories.

Preparing the necessary ingredients

Over the years, enterprising housewives have come up with many ways to prepare dill for future use without destroying its beneficial properties. Before moving on to the recipes, you need to familiarize yourself with how to properly prepare the fragrant spice for storage.

If you follow the recommendations, the herbaceous plant will not deteriorate during the winter:

1. Dill bought at the market or picked from the garden needs to be washed. Hot water is not suitable for this procedure; the best option would be slightly warm water at room temperature.
2. Then the herb is dried, spread on dry towels and left for a while.
3. When choosing a place to dry dill, you must take into account that direct sunlight should not hit the plant.
4. Also, the workpiece is protected by known methods from possible pests (flies, ants and others).

Methods for preparing dill for future use

There are several known methods for storing fragrant spices during the winter. You can dry or freeze dill, store it in oil, with salt, preserve it, or even pickle it. Each woman chooses a recipe that is convenient for herself or tries several. All methods have their own subtleties and features, more about them below.

Drying

The difference between dried herbs is that the plant prepared in this way has a strong aroma. It is best to add dried dill when preparing a hot first course.

There are several recipes for harvesting greens using the drying method. The most popular of them:

1. Hang the washed bunch of fragrant spice on a rope for several days. The seasoning must be protected from direct ultraviolet rays, wind, and pests. A couple of days is enough, and the dill will be ready for the cold period.
2. Chop the selected amount of the plant and spread it in a thin layer on a tray or paper. Stir the dill periodically to ensure even drying, and it will be ready for wintering in 3-4 days. Do not forget about the absence of sun, wind and insects in the place where the greens are prepared.
3. Sometimes, in order to speed up the process of preparing seasonings for winter, housewives heat-treat the spices using the oven. Given the high temperature conditions, when drying dill in this way, its leaves begin to curl up and acquire a yellowish tint. As a result, dried herbs don't look very nice. This is the only drawback of this recipe for preparing the plant for winter.

Freezing

This is one of the most popular ways for housewives to store spices in winter. You can freeze greens finely chopped, in bunches or in ice cubes:

1. Washed and dried fresh dill is chopped and evenly distributed. It is recommended to stir the fragrant herb from time to time to prevent the leaves from sticking together. After 24 hours, the spread is taken out of the refrigerator, the frozen greens are poured into bags or plastic buckets.
2. Those who don't want to grind the plant simply prepare bunches of herbs and place them in a plastic bag or foil, and then put them in the freezer.
3. Freezing dill with ice cubes is not a common technique, but recently it has been gaining popularity. To do this, add finely chopped spices to a form for freezing into cubes, add water or butter.

Attention! Frozen seasoning can be stored in the refrigerator for six months without losing its beneficial properties and pleasant aroma.

Conservation

You can preserve the fragrant spice during the cold winter months by preserving it. As you know, the canning process cannot take place without sterilization. The prepared jars must be sterilized and dried thoroughly, after which the washed greens are placed in the jars and hermetically sealed with a lid. It is recommended to store such jars of dill in the cold. Fresh stems and leaves will retain all their vitamins and aroma for 1 to 2 months.

Pickled dill in jars for the winter

There are many varieties of marinade for greens - this is another way to prepare fragrant herbs for future use. Here is one of the most delicious and popular recipes.

Ingredients:

1. Dill – 350-500 grams.
2. Citric acid – 25 grams.
3. Garlic 3-4 cloves.
4. Bay leaf – 3 leaves.
5. Sugar – a pinch.
6. Salt - one teaspoon.
7. Sunflower oil - a glass.

How to marinate the seasoning:

1. Wash and dry the greens.
2. Peel the garlic and cut each clove into 4 pieces.
3. Prepare a deep frying pan and mix citric acid, garlic, oil, salt, sugar and bay leaf in it. Then boil the resulting mixture for about 10 minutes.
4. After the specified time has passed, the marinade should be cooled slightly.
5. Distribute the herb into sterilized jars and pour in the cooled marinade.
6. Next, the jars, along with the contents, are placed in a deep bowl and boiled for about 5-8 minutes. Then the container is taken out and the blanks are rolled up.

Storage in oil

For those who like to pamper themselves with a fresh salad in winter, there is a recipe for preparing dill oil. It is also used for frying during the preparation of first courses. Sometimes - as one of the ingredients for sauce. The recipe is very simple.

You will need:

1. A small jar, preferably glass.
2. The required amount of fragrant spice.
3. Oil (you can use either sunflower or olive oil).

Chopped fresh dill is placed in jars and oil is poured in, without using salt. The workpiece is placed in the refrigerator and after 1.5-2 weeks the product is ready for use.

Dill with salt for the winter

The most useful of the proposed options for harvesting a fragrant plant is when the grass is simply mixed with salt. A particularly important point in this recipe is not to make a mistake with the proportions of salt relative to the greens.

You will need to prepare:

1. Dill - from 1 to 2 kilograms.
2. Salt – 350-600 grams.

Cooking process:

1. First you need to sort out the stems of the plant. Branches that are too thick will spoil the taste of the seasoning, so it is recommended to remove them. The prepared leaves and stems are washed well in water several times to remove all kinds of contaminants.
2. Next, chop the greens with a knife. This is done in any form, as it suits you.
3. As for the required containers for the workpiece, it is best to prepare glass jars with lids that can be screwed on tightly.
4. It is recommended to add salt as the first layer into the prepared container. To avoid overdoing it, pour the salt into jars about half a centimeter thick.
5. The next layer is dill, the thickness also does not exceed 1 centimeter. Then another layer of salt, and so on, until the jar is completely filled. But the last layer must be salt.
6. When the ingredients are poured in and the container is filled to the end, cover the jar with a lid. The container needs to be shaken well so that the salt crystals mix with the layers of greenery.
7. Afterwards the jar is sealed tightly and sent to a cold place. To do this, you can use either a refrigerator or a cellar.

How to choose the best way to store all the vitamins in greens

Every woman, before preparing herbs for the winter cold period, first of all takes care of the preservation of the beneficial properties and components of the plant. Which of the following methods is better to choose? So:

1. When frozen, almost 90% of all nutrients and vitamins are preserved. In addition, this is also one of the simplest recipes for preparing fragrant seasoning.
2. When greens are stored in a jar with salt, approximately 70% of the vitamin remains.
3. Those who choose the drying method in winter, when using seasoning, will receive only 50% of its useful components.
4. Recipes using marinade kill almost all the beneficial substances of the plant and are considered impractical. However, pickled greens are very tasty and are often used as an addition to main dishes or appetizers.

It doesn’t matter how this useful herb will be stored, the main thing is to have time to prepare the seasoning in time. After all, almost every family actively uses it in the home menu. Using the recipes described above, every housewife will delight herself and her family with aromatic dishes on cold evenings.