SpicesBite

Coriander Seed

Also known as: dhania

SpicesBite editorialLast reviewed September 2026

What Coriander Seed is

The dried seed of the same plant whose fresh leaves are called coriander or cilantro, but tasting nothing like the leaf. Ground coriander seed, alongside cumin, is the base note of most North and South Asian gravies, added for body rather than to be noticed on its own.

The small, round, ridged dried fruit of Coriandrum sativum. The same plant grown for its leaf is left to flower and seed for this spice, which is harvested, dried and sold whole or ground into the powder most recipes call simply 'coriander powder' or dhania.

Taste profile

Sweet, citrusy and faintly floral, with a warm, nutty background that deepens when the whole seed is toasted before grinding. It is much milder and rounder than cumin, and its job in a gravy is to thicken and mellow rather than to stand out as a distinct flavor.

Forms to buy

  • Whole seed — Toasted and ground fresh for the best aroma; also used whole in pickles.
  • Ground — The everyday form, sold as coriander powder or dhania powder.

Halal note

Coriander seed carries no halal concern in any form. The one point worth knowing is that 'coriander' can mean either this dried seed or the fresh leaf — they are not interchangeable in a recipe.

Dishes that use it

  • Chicken Curry — The everyday bone-in curry — browned onion, tomato and spice, with no cream.
  • Lamb Curry — Bone-in lamb cooked slowly until the sauce thickens around it.
  • Vegetable Samosa — Spiced potato and pea in a pastry triangle, fried slowly so the crust stays blistered.

Cuisines

  • Indian — Not one cuisine but a continent's worth, unified by how spices are handled rather than by what is cooked.
  • Nepali — Lighter, sourer and less oily than its neighbours, built around a tray of rice, lentils and greens.
  • South Indian — Rice, lentils and fermentation — a lighter, sourer tradition with almost no relation to a North Indian menu.

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