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 the 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 meals in such a way that it does not lose its beneficial properties.

A spicy herbaceous plant called dill is an annual. Its shoots and leaves will add a fragrant aroma to every dish, from hot dishes to snacks. The thing is that in the composition of spicy herbs there is a special oil that gives a pleasant smell to the plant.

In addition, the seasoning contains many vitamins:

1. Ascorbic acid - helps to accelerate the absorption of iron in the body; participates in the functioning of the immune system.
2. Vitamin A - helps to strengthen the immune system, has a positive effect on the skin, organs of vision, 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 the composition of 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, cause appetite, increase the efficiency of the stomach and regulate metabolism. Spice, in general, has a positive effect on 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 for food during an exacerbation - this will alleviate their condition.

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

Attention! Experts recommend including dill in your diet for people who have pathologies of the kidneys, liver, gallbladder, suffering from gastritis and flatulence. As for the nutritional value of spicy herbs, here supporters of slender figures can be calm. 100 grams of dill contains only 40 calories.

Preparing the necessary ingredients

Over the years, enterprising hostesses have come up with many ways to harvest 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.

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

Methods for harvesting dill for future use

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

drying

The difference between dried spicy herbs is that the plant harvested 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 by drying. The most popular of them:

1. Hang a washed bunch of fragrant spices 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 season.
2. Grind the selected amount of the plant and spread it in a thin layer on a spacing or paper. Stir dill occasionally to dry evenly, and it will be ready for wintering in 3-4 days. Do not forget about the absence of the sun, wind and insects in the place of greenery preparation.
3. Sometimes, in order to speed up the process of harvesting seasoning for the winter, housewives heat the spice using an oven. Given the high temperature regime, when drying dill in this way, its leaves begin to wrap up and acquire a yellowish tint. As a result, dried herbs do not look very beautiful. This is the only negative of this recipe for preparing the plant for winter.

Freezing

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

1. Washed and dried fresh dill is crushed and evenly laid out on a spread. It is recommended to mix the fragrant grass from time to time so that the leaves do not stick 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 deal with chopping the plant simply prepare bunches of herbs and place them in a plastic bag or foil, and then send them to the freezer.
3. Freezing dill with ice cubes is not a common technique, but it has been gaining popularity lately. To do this, add finely chopped spice to the form for freezing cubes, pour water or butter.

Attention! Frozen seasoning can be stored in the refrigerator for six months, while not losing its beneficial properties and pleasant aroma.

Conservation

You can save the fragrant spice during the cold winter months with the help of conservation. As you know, the canning process cannot take place without sterilization. Prepared jars must be sterilized and dried thoroughly, after which the washed greens are placed in jars and sealed with a lid. It is recommended to store such jars with dill in the cold. Fresh stems and leaves will retain all of their vitamins and flavor 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 harvest fragrant herbs for the future. 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 tongs.
4. Bay leaf - 3 leaves.
5. Sugar - a pinch.
6. Salt - one teaspoon.
7. Sunflower oil - a glass.

How to pickle seasoning:

1. Wash and dry the herbs.
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 elapsed, the marinade should be slightly cooled.
5. Spread spicy herbs over sterilized jars and pour over the cooled marinade.
6. Next, the jars, together 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.

oil storage

For those who like to treat themselves to a fresh salad in winter, there is a recipe for harvesting dill oil. It is also used for frying, during the preparation of first courses. Sometimes - as one of the components for the 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 both sunflower and olive).

Chopped fresh dill is placed in jars, and oil is poured in, without the use of salt. The blank 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 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. Prepared leaves and stems are washed well in water several times to remove all kinds of contaminants.
2. Next, the greens are chopped with a knife. This is done in any form, to whom it is convenient.
3. As for the necessary containers for harvesting, here it is best to prepare glass jars with lids that can be tightly screwed on.
4. It is recommended to pour salt into the prepared container as the first layer. In order not to overdo it, salt is poured into jars about half a centimeter thick.
5. The next layer is dill, the thickness also does not exceed 1 centimeter. Then again a 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 and the container is filled to the end, the jar is covered with a lid. The container needs to be shaken well so that the salt crystals mix with the layers of greenery.
7. After the bank is hermetically twisted 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 period of winter cold, first of all, takes care of the safety 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 useful substances and vitamins are preserved. In addition, this is also one of the easiest recipes for harvesting fragrant seasoning.
2. When the greens are stored in a jar of salt, approximately 70% of the vitamin remains in it.
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, often used as an addition to main dishes or snacks.

It does not matter how this useful herb will be stored, the main thing is to have time to prepare the seasoning in time. Indeed, in almost every family it is actively used in the home menu. Using the above recipes, each housewife will delight herself and her family with fragrant dishes on cold evenings.