Curry leaves

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otuatail

Senior Cook
Joined
Nov 3, 2015
Messages
235
Location
York (UK)
(UK) Hi. I love curries (Vindaloo mainly) and have been to India. Where I live there is a shortage of descent shops. I bought curry leaves on Amazon(UK). There are a lot of leaves. I would not like to loose them over a period of time. Can they be kept for a long period (months) in a fridge? cCould they be frozen or would this low temperature destroy them?

TIA
Desmond.
 
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Ok thanks. Will keep some in fridge. Enougf for 2 weeks and freeze the rest. 2 weeks in the fridge should be okay.
 
ive found them fresh at Indian markets and I freeze right away. Same thing with fresh lime leaves. freezing might take away some of the flavor but not that much, IMO. Better than letting them go bad.
 
I tried one of these curry leaves. From past experiance they are supposed to taste curry like. These taste like leaves I have got from the garden.
 
Curry leaves do NOT taste like curry - they are simply one part of the many flavors used in curries, mainly in the southern Indian regions, though the northern regions have started using them recently, since fresh ones are more available than they used to be (they are a tropical plant, that grows down south, in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and some other areas). They really don't taste that good on their own, but you can say that about a lot of herbs and spices! I started growing a tree 13 years ago (I think??), when the leaves were rarely available, and were not very good quality, when they were.
 
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I tried one of these curry leaves. From past experiance they are supposed to taste curry like. These taste like leaves I have got from the garden.
theres really nothing that tastes like "curry" because curry isnt a specific thing. there are so many different types of curry. actual fresh indian curry leaves dont taste anything like curry power. they taste nothing like leaves from your garden. they taste more complex, like lemongrass. like good indian food.
 
I thought curry leaves, like bay, are not to be eaten. Although softer than a dry bay leaf, I think it is still better not too. JMHO.

and while I'm at it - when lemongrass first became 'popular' not all that long ago, every thing I read was that one would just crushed the stalks with the back of a knife, to release the oils - they were then removed before serving, or as one cook said - it was up to the consumer to remove from his bowl before eating! LOL
 
I think that bay leaves, curry leaves, and dry rosemary are edible, but just too fibrous to be pleasant to eat. I know that dry rosemary works fine ground to a powder. If I don't have fresh, I use a mortar and pestle to make rosemary powder. I would have thought that the same would be true of curry leaves and bay leaves. If left whole and ground before use, they should keep more of their flavours.
 
I eat the curry leaves all the time, but many people remove them while eating. I am always using the fresh ones, and even when they crispen up in the oil, when making a tarka, then adding at the end, they seem to soften up almost immediately, after stirring them in.
 
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you can leave curry leaves (bay leaves) in your cupboard in a sealed jar for a very long time, same with cinnamon sticks and other spices, keeps the flavour in tact, no need to freeze (coming from an Indian background).
Curry and bay leaves are not the same, totally different.

Fresh curry leaves will NOT keep in the pantry. They will mold and rot. BTDT.

Fresh Bay/laurel leaves will not keep in the pantry either. They have to be dried or frozen.
 
BTW, Indian Bay Leaves are something totally different from what we know as bay leaves. The Indian name is Tejpat, or Tejpatta. Often they are just called bay leaves in recipes, but sometimes they are called cassia leaves, since that's what they are - leaves of the cassia tree, and they have a faint cinnamon aroma. Like the bay laurel leaves, they are tough, and can't be eaten. They are found in many of the spice mixes, like garam masala, toasted and ground in them
 
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