What Are Curry Leaves?

“You have not actually cooked in case you’ve by no means cooked with curry leaves,” says Barkha Cardoz, founding father of Cardoz Legacy, a company the place she engages in culinary-centered initiatives in honor of her late husband, Floyd Cardoz. And no, she’s not referring to these curry powders made up of various spices that foreigners are likely to affiliate with Indian delicacies. 

Curry leaves are a magnificence unto themselves, stuffed with oils that add a citrusy taste when utilized in cooking. The ingredient is most notably a South Asian one, and is discovered particularly in South Indian, Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani dishes. It’s fairly distinctive in taste, and it may be used recent or dry, floor or complete, usually bloomed in oil to launch its aroma and flavorful oils. 

To search out out extra about curry leaves, together with its origins, how to buy them, and the way they’re used, we spoke to Cardoz and Anand Prasad, founding father of Prasad’s Curry Leaf, a curry leaf farm in Los Angeles that Prasad began with seeds he and his household carried from India, for some steerage. 

What Are Curry Leaves?

Curry leaves come from the Murraya koenigii plant, which is native to the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. Belonging to the identical household as citrus and rue, the tree grows in tropical climates to about 20 ft tall. Literature dating back to the 1st century A.D. references using curry leaves to flavor vegetables. They’ve additionally been utilized in Ayurvedic drugs for hundreds of years to help signs of all the things from diabetes to excessive ldl cholesterol.

Other than its citrusy notes, the flavour of curry leaves is difficult to pinpoint. It’s usually described as having the flavour of the spice asafoetida, and will be barely bitter and pungent. It accommodates the compounds pinene, which is current as an aroma molecule in eucalyptus and orange, plus marijuana; sabinene, which is present in marjoram, black pepper, nutmeg; and caryophyllene, present in black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, all of which give it a posh taste with natural, floral, woodsy, and citrusy notes.

Purchase and Retailer Curry Leaves

There may be nothing fairly like the flavour and aroma you’ll get from recent curry leaves, however they are often more durable to come back by than dried ones. You’ll be able to normally discover recent ones at South Asian grocery shops like Patel Brothers, in addition to on-line from locations like Kalustyan’s.

When searching for recent leaves, Cardoz recommends in search of small leaves, that are youthful and extra tender. She preps them by first eradicating them from the bottom of their powerful central stem, which doesn’t maintain a lot taste, and wiping—not washing—them clear, then places them in a zipper-lock bag earlier than storing within the fridge for not less than two weeks or the freezer for as much as two months.

Dried curry leaves are hardly a concession, nonetheless. “Nothing will be beat by recent curry leaves,” says Prasad. Their taste and aroma is far stronger than the dried leaves. Even when searching for dried, although, Cardoz recommends beginning with recent if in any respect attainable and drying them your self, which provides you with extra taste mileage than shopping for dried leaves of an unknown age. You dry the leaves within the solar or in a dehydrator, then switch them to zipper-lock baggage with a silica gel desiccant packet to make sure they do not develop moldy.

Floor curry leaves are additionally pretty standard in the marketplace. Prasad has a version in collaboration with Burlap & Barrel, however you can even discover floor curry leaves at most worldwide spice markets. 

Prepare dinner With Curry Leaves

“I can’t keep in mind something I make with out curry leaves,” says Cardoz. It’s generally utilized in tadka, a course of during which spices are bloomed in sizzling oil or ghee after which used as a finisher on prime of dishes like dal. Prasad echoes the identical assertion concerning the significance of curry leaves in Indian delicacies, noting, “If I’m going into the kitchen and there are not any curry leaves, how is there going to be a tadka?”

“It is one thing that you simply put in for the aroma, for texture, for crunch,” says Cardoz. “It simply provides a lot taste.” Whereas some desire to take the curry leaves out of a dish earlier than serving, much like when cooking with bay leaves, Cardoz is among the many people who sit up for consuming it. 

“My youngsters will pull it out,” she says. “I say ‘give it to me, I’ll eat it.’” She additionally likes to fry the leaves individually till crispy so as to add a crunchy topping to no matter she’s serving. 

Whereas curry leaves are sometimes utilized in tadka as a ending taste and aroma addition to dishes, they may also be cooked right into a recipe as a base fragrant ingredient. Even then, they’re finest bloomed in oil first. Floor curry leaves may also be utilized in the identical means. Cardoz talked about that when she makes a dish like peas and potatoes in a tomato sauce, for instance, she’ll begin by blooming one or two leaves within the oil earlier than including her onions, garlic, ginger, and another fragrant substances. She lets the curry leaves sit within the sauce because it simmers to allow them to additional launch their flavors. 

“They’re 99 cents at an Indian grocery retailer,” says Cardoz. “Simply add them to no matter you are cooking to strive it out and see—you may be amazed.” For 99 cents, it’s arduous to argue with that logic.