Drying Mint

Dried mint is widely used in Lebanese cuisine. It can replace fresh mint when not available or just be a condiment used in many dishes or as garnish on Mezzeh such as Garlic Labneh.

Drying mint is a fairly easy process that takes about three days to finish. Most of the work required consists in washing and removing the leaves from the stems, the rest is wait mostly.

After washing and separating the leaves from the stem, lay them in a single layer if possible on a kitchen towel or anything that would absorb moisture.

Then leave them be in the shade (the sun will make the leaves go too dark). Make sure to jumble them up from time to time to make sure that the lower leaves are not still moist.

The leaves will go darker and dehydrate and be ready on about the third day. They will look a lot like pot pourri, only they would be greenish.

At this point rub them between your hands till they crumble then sieve them into a bowl to remove any remaining stems. Store them in a jar and these would last for months! The flavor is deeper than the fresh mint and less pungent.

It would be wise to wear latex gloves while removing the leaves from the stems if making a large batch especially, since mint will darken your palms.