HERBS & LEAVES · 03
MINT
The Cooling Herb
THE LEAF
Mint is less a single herb than a large aromatic family.
The genus Mentha contains numerous species and cultivated forms, and the mint sold as pudina in Indian markets may not always represent precisely the same botanical type from one region to another.
What unites them is their unmistakable aromatic character.
Crush a leaf between your fingers and the response is immediate: fresh, penetrating and cooling.
Unlike curry leaves, which often reveal themselves through hot oil, mint frequently works best when its freshness is protected—ground raw, scattered over food, steeped briefly or introduced late in cooking.
NAMES ACROSS INDIA
English — Mint
Hindi — Pudina
Telugu — Pudina
Tamil — Pudina / Pudina Keerai
Malayalam — Pudina
Kannada — Pudina Soppu
Marathi — Pudina
Gujarati — Fudina
Bengali — Pudina Pata
Punjabi — Pudina
ORIGIN & JOURNEY
Mint has a long history across the temperate Old World, particularly Europe, western and central Asia and adjoining regions.
Different Mentha species have different native ranges, which is why Indian culinary mint is better represented as Mentha spp. rather than pretending every bunch of pudina belongs to one species.
Over centuries mint became thoroughly naturalised within the culinary vocabulary of the subcontinent.
WHERE INDIA USES IT
Mint crosses regional and community boundaries.
It is particularly visible in North Indian, Mughlai, Awadhi, Hyderabadi and biryani traditions, while its reach is much wider.
It appears in chutneys, chaats, rice dishes, kebabs, marinades, raitas and summer drinks.
IN THE KITCHEN
Mint can be:
ground raw into chutneys
combined with coriander
layered into biryani
incorporated into pulao
chopped into raita
blended into marinades
used with kebabs
muddled or steeped into drinks
added to chaats
incorporated into parathas
used as a fresh garnish
Long cooking can flatten its volatile freshness.
SIGNATURE DISHES
Pudina Chutney
Green Chutney
Hyderabadi Biryani
Pudina Pulao
Pudina Raita
Pani Puri Pani
Pudina Paratha
Nimbu-Pudina Drinks
FLAVOUR & AROMA
Mint is cooling, green, penetrating and refreshing.
Its famous cooling sensation is associated particularly with compounds such as menthol, although the precise aromatic profile varies between mint species.
The thermometer has not changed.
Your mouth has simply received a very persuasive memo.
CULTURE & TRADITION
Mint belongs strongly to summer.
Pudina chutney beside a meal.
Mint in cooling drinks.
A bunch arriving from the vegetable market with coriander and green chillies.
THE CODEX NOTE
"Mint doesn't fight heat with more heat. It changes the conversation."
Beside chilli, it refreshes.
Inside biryani, it perfumes.
With yoghurt, it cools.
In chutney, it wakes everything up.
And on a punishing Indian summer afternoon, a handful of pudina can perform a minor act of diplomacy between you and the weather.