Cilantro versus Culantro

English Malli, I heard it for the first time in a kitchen in Wayanad, Kerala. Malli in Malayalam means coriander or cilantro. The look of the saw-edged leaves was very strange for a city-bred like me. Here, the people use it for garnishing in the absence of cilantro leaves.

I went to the garden in search of this plant. You need to be careful while walking through these plants for its sharp edges may prick your feet. The leaves smell exactly like a cilantro leaves. The sight of these weeds was bit ‘ thorny’ enough to generate curiosity.

Culantro

I approached Google guru to gain further information on the locally-called English Malli. I found the information on Wikipedia. Its name is Culantro (Eryngium foetidum) with Mexican origin. The article further says that people in India also use it. Though I am not sure as I have known this fact for the first time.

Also, I find that it is largely used in traditional medicines for treating burns, hypertension, etc. This plant is also called as spiritweed or fitweed as it is mainly used for epilepsy treatment.

So, next time when you are de-weeding your garden, do not remove culantro. They taste exactly like cilantro; I found my first culantro-sprinkled dish, oats upama, to be very yummy. Cilantro leaves are no more a freebie from the vegetable vendors; hence culantro is a cheap and a healthy substitute.

Hope this piece was informative for ignorant people like me. J