Anybody else here ever use curry leaves?

[China_cat]

Not related to curry spice. I just tried some and they are absolutely great.

[demnan]

1. Yes, they are wonderful, especially fresh

I've bought them at Indian Spice stores and a chain where I live called Global Foods that caters to Asians.

I used them for Sombar, which is an Indian soup made with yellow split beans, tomatoes, califlower, and assorted veggies (your choice). Just buy some Sombar Masala and black mustard seed and it's easy to make, usually there's a recipe for the soup on the Masala box.

I've also used them in yoghurt-based Indian chicken curries.

[wildeyed]

2. Do tell, what do they taste like?

I am always interested in a new spice.

[China_cat]

3. It's impossible to describe to you.

They have their own flavor and the aroma is absolutely marvelous. It just doesn't have correllation to anything else.

See if you can find some and just smell them. You'll see what I mean.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. More on Curry Leaves

From this website ( http://www.coosemansdenver.com/catalog/product.asp?product_id=1248 ) ( may be very slow to load) we discover they're ......

Not a stock item, but available sporadically all year from Asia, India, and the USA. Also known as kari, limbdi and limbdo, these leaves are enjoyed for their bitter flavor and strong scent. Widely used in India, often times the entire stalk and leaves are added to a dish during the initial stages of preparation. Its flavor is robust and unmistakable: so you’d better like it! Young, tender, leaves may be chopped finely and added egg and vegetable creations. Best stored in a paper bag and kept between 45-50 degrees F. Best used within two weeks of receipt.

They look like this:


From the book Cooking Ingredients by Christine Ingram, page 418-19:

Curry Leaves

These come from a tropical tree of the citrus-rue family, which is native to southern India and Sri Lanka. The long, slender leaflets are shiny, dark green on the top with paler undersides. Curry leaves have a strong, warm, spicy aroma when they are bruised or rubbed. They impart a curry flavor that cannot be replicated by any other ingredient.

A classic way of using curry leaves is by frying mustard seeds in hot ghee, then adding a little asafoetida and several curry leaves and cooking them just a few seconds before stirring them into a plain dhal-based Indian soup. Curry leaves may be added whole to curries, in which they should be removed before the dish is served. Alternatively, the leaves can be very finely chopped or minced (ground).

[China_cat]

7. I don't understand why they say bitter

flavor. I don't find it bitter at all.

And I got mine from http://www.ishopindian.com/ They say they always have it in stock.

[yellowdogintexas]

5. Easy to grow, too. I planted one just because I loved the smell

of it and whenever it rained that part of my flower bed smelled so good.

It is quite good chopped up like chives and mixed with cottage cheese.

[China_cat]

6. Where did you get yours?

I'm thinking about upsetting my next door neighbor and planting one...or 2. (She hates green growing things and has been known to throw weed killer into my yard in an attempt to kill my plants. Every time she bitches, I plant something new. And something that aromatic would be perfect.)

[yellowdogintexas]

8. got mine at Calloway's , a local chain of garden centers in

North Texas.

Check out the local garden centers and nurseries in your area. It is sold in the herbs; I think I paid about 2 bucks for a 4" pot. It grew beautifully.

As long as you are doing that, you should get sweet basil, thai basil, rosemary (which will live for several years) thyme and lavender, all of which are wonderfully aromatic. There are also several varieties of mint out there, all of which are aromatic and predatory.

Plant them near the fence line and they will take over her yard too.

Why does she hate green growing things??

[China_cat]

9. Here in SC

rosemary is a pernicious weed. It propagates to take over everything and once it's planted, you can't get rid of it. Basil doesn't grow well here so I buy mine fresh, same with mint...except that it does grow well but it attracts all the cats in a 10 block radius and I end up with nothing but stems.

As for my neighbor, I have no idea. She has given me a really hard time for almost 25 years because of my holly bush (that has inch long thorns and you can't get within 2 feet of). Even though it's inside a fenced yard, she still claims that somebody could hide in it and jump out at her when she comes home late at night. Yeah, if they want to bleed to death in the process.