What are the ingredients used to make the green color of the green dumplings

"Green dumplings" is a kind of specialty food, also called "Ai dumplings", "Qingming fruit" and so on, mainly popular in the south of Anhui Province, South Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Shanghai and other south of the Yangtze River. It is mainly popular in southern Anhui, southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and other southern areas. According to the evidence, "Qingduan" was once used to worship ancestors during the Qingming Festival in China, which originated in the Tang Dynasty. After more than a thousand years of development, the shape of "Qingduan" has not changed much, but its application has changed from a ritual to a specialty snack in people's daily life.

The green color of the "green dumplings" was first taken from green plants, such as mugwort, small thorn grass, mudwort, sage and so on. Mugwort is best used around the time of the Ching Ming Festival, when its leaves are tender and green. When making "green dumplings", the young mugwort leaves and other green plants are first put into a cauldron with lime and steamed, then the lime water is floated off to make "green paste", which is then kneaded into the glutinous rice flour to make green dumplings. Then the "green paste" is kneaded into the glutinous rice flour to make the green dough, and finally the filling is wrapped and rolled into a ball to make the "green dumpling" billet