Hiya All
Here I am bloggin my thoughts, ideas, journals and ofcourse my inevitable ramblings. Greatly appreciate you'll stopping by and add comments if you will. See ya!
Here I am bloggin my thoughts, ideas, journals and ofcourse my inevitable ramblings. Greatly appreciate you'll stopping by and add comments if you will. See ya!
Curry Leaves
Posted 26th November 2007 at 07:36 PM by Anandchitra
A main ingredient in my cooking. Atleast most of my cooking. Because I do use coriander leaves as well. When I cook Italian food I use parsley or basil or rosemary or tarragon. When I cook Thai food I use basil and in chinese I use green onion and bay leaf to pulao or other rice variety. So I have to use one of these herbs not just to garnish but also for flavor. I am strong believer of flavor. I dont like to add too much oil, too much salt, too much spice or too much chilli but have my food cooked rich with assorted herbs and/or these curry/coriander leaves as garnish. I just love the smell when I garnish with these leaves. Coriander adds such a nice aroma so rich and so earthy and so greeny (??!!) to my rasams. Curry leaves add the same earthy tones to my sambhar and need I say avial. To me when I dont add curry patha to avail i sense my avial looks naked (NO you're not reading R rated material).
Recently when I went shopping I realised I'm having to pay for these dear curry leaves. It used to be that we used to get some free after we were done shopping all our vegetables. My mother never left the poor vendor alone without getting some curry leaves and somtimes even green chillies. Even I know its not possible to get the latter free but not sure about the former. Does everyone have to pay for these wonderful flavorful leaves?? At my eldest sister-in-law's house they have a huge tree that yeilds and yields so much more than they can ever possibly need. When I go there I always get myself bunches and bunches. I am sure by now everyone has considered me the silly fool to gather bunches of curry patha and also drool over these herbs. But really think about it. It adds so much more flavor and texture and taste to the cooking that we can add less of other ingredients like Salt and chilli powder and such.
I just cannot cook without these. I too have a curry plant which looks very dismal due to my incessant plucking that I decided to give it a break in winter. So I ended up buying at our grocery store and had to pay a dollar for just a FEW sprigs. Trust me when I say FEW i mean FEWER or FEWEST (forgive my english you pandits) which I could count with fingers on one hand.
But I did buy paying the price and am happy when I cook with said leaves. I goto other grocery stores to buy coriander and such where they are not popular and are sold inexpensive. Looking at all my greens the cashier still remained polite and did not look like she was serving a COW !!!!
Is anybody else out there who are as big a fan as I of said leaves or is it just me?? Its o.k to know that it could be just me because I do need it and everytime I use these in my cooking and smell the aroma, the price and COW look and fewer leaves are all worth it!!!!!!!!!
Recently when I went shopping I realised I'm having to pay for these dear curry leaves. It used to be that we used to get some free after we were done shopping all our vegetables. My mother never left the poor vendor alone without getting some curry leaves and somtimes even green chillies. Even I know its not possible to get the latter free but not sure about the former. Does everyone have to pay for these wonderful flavorful leaves?? At my eldest sister-in-law's house they have a huge tree that yeilds and yields so much more than they can ever possibly need. When I go there I always get myself bunches and bunches. I am sure by now everyone has considered me the silly fool to gather bunches of curry patha and also drool over these herbs. But really think about it. It adds so much more flavor and texture and taste to the cooking that we can add less of other ingredients like Salt and chilli powder and such.
I just cannot cook without these. I too have a curry plant which looks very dismal due to my incessant plucking that I decided to give it a break in winter. So I ended up buying at our grocery store and had to pay a dollar for just a FEW sprigs. Trust me when I say FEW i mean FEWER or FEWEST (forgive my english you pandits) which I could count with fingers on one hand.
But I did buy paying the price and am happy when I cook with said leaves. I goto other grocery stores to buy coriander and such where they are not popular and are sold inexpensive. Looking at all my greens the cashier still remained polite and did not look like she was serving a COW !!!!
Is anybody else out there who are as big a fan as I of said leaves or is it just me?? Its o.k to know that it could be just me because I do need it and everytime I use these in my cooking and smell the aroma, the price and COW look and fewer leaves are all worth it!!!!!!!!!
Total Comments 39
Comments
 |  Dear AC Loved your post on "curry leaves".It's an indispensible ingredient in our SI cooking. When we were in the US for a short time.. pocketing curryleaves was a feat,let alone the hefty price.We had to travel a long way to reach the nearest Indian grocery store! My FIL when on a visit missed his regular "curry leaves thogayal" and I was helpless. Your post made me nostalgic. Regards Honeybee |
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| | Dear AC Loved your post on "curry leaves".It's an indispensible ingredient in our SI cooking. When we were in the US for a short time.. pocketing curryleaves was a feat,let alone the hefty price.We had to travel a long way to reach the nearest Indian grocery store! My FIL when on a visit missed his regular "curry leaves thogayal" and I was helpless. Your post made me nostalgic. Regards Honeybee |
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| |  I was beginning to think I'm a little crazyfor running behind the curry leaves Thanks to hear there is one other person who thinks I'm not... Yes you can imagine how far I have to drive or how few I get or how much I have to pay... Hmmmm its worth it though so here's to our curry leaf !!!! |
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| |  Dear AC, Your article is great, let me tell you about the benefits of curry leaves and why our munnoar were interested we have it along with our food.. It has curative properties, it is an herbal tonic, they ensure very good digestion and are a little laxative too, so a great help in all stomach related problems like the morning nausea, vomiting due to indigestion. Tender leaves are useful in diarrhea and piles, they should be taken with honey, the bark of the tree is useful in bilious vomiting, also well for kidney disorders of the mild stage. This is something after every woman’s heart, it arrests premature graying one need to chew these leaves in the morning making it a daily course and we will be able to speak about our hair with pride. It can also be applied as poultice for burns and bruises and any skin related problems, also helps eye related problems, like cataract when fresh juice of curry leaves suffused in the eyes it arrests the development of cataract. Fruits of he tree which are berries are edible, they are green when raw, but purple when ripe and juice of these berries mixed with equal proportion of lime juice, is an effective fluid for external application in insect stings and bites.. The rest is history, we south Indians are left without the basic ingredient if curry leaves are not available, and to make full use of these leaves it is better to run them in mixie and store and then add on with masala or garnish, this way none will remove it and then eat the food, very few chew this in the cooked state. Some even use this as references as to how men in old age may be left out like the karuveppilai which is being removed before the sambhar is being consumed….sunkan |
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| | WOW ! Thats all I can sayDear Sundari That is truly amazing an incredible fact mine about th innocent looking curry leaf. Now that I know so much more I'm going to use it with more gusto than ever before. Thank you so much for sharing with all of us. We seem to have a veritable gold mine in our midst. |
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| |  Hey AC, So you are herb crazy or should i say only curry leaves crazy...there is a quote naan enga veetilla kariveppilai madiri...i hope you understand the meaning...yes the humble herbs do give a lot of flavour..... here is what i do......when i have lot...i just dry them crush them and store it....whether it is basil, curry,coriander or mint...so when needed take a little from that and use...ofcourse it cannot take the place of the fresh green...but the curry leaves smell the same in avial even when dry...try it... you can alway add a few sprigs of dried leaves to your rasam powder ingredients..so you will not miss out.... the same humble curry leaf is know to help avert the risk of diabetes if a few leaves are chewed early in the morning. good for your hair.... |
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| | Definetly HERB Crazyamong other things crazy too!!! Dearest Shanthi so nicely written as always need I even say...I will try the dry powder and I know it will be fine too... like all the other dried herbs I use...Actually if we use dried we can use lesser quantity...And when possible we can use the fresh ones too.. Did not know about the diabetes effect.. You did not mention if you liked herbs as much as I do ....... |
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| |  Dear AC, Curry leaves or Karuvepilai in Tamil or kadi patha in hindi is a favourite leaves in all the cookings in our house be it sambhar, kootu, curry, avial etc. In adai dough we add this and it adds a special taste. In buttermilk we add this along with green chillies, ginger and mango pieces. But, my most favourite and tastiest curry leaves come after melting the butter and taking the ghee, we used to put curry leaves in the hot ghee remaining and it gets roasted nicely. Wow, it used to taste so yummy! |
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| | hey AC, I thought the way i have mentioned about how i dry the herbs..it is very clear about my love for the herb...In our house, it is kariveppillai thokku, thogaiyal, podi,kuzhambu.. then mint...the same..coriander also the same....along with this methi..i dry them and store them for my north indian cooking.. and I eat neem,mint, coriander and curry leaves...raw..when i get them fresh..so that completes the picture of this adivaasi..(as nicknamed by veda  ) |
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| |  One more Karuveppilai-kothamalli crazy !I replenish my stocks for the above two almost on a daily basis. The old stocks of curry leaves are promptly spread on a plate, MWed for 3 mts & converted into the most beautiful green powder. Believe me & don't laugh - I supply that powder on a regular basis to a few friends, who do not have a MW or a little lazy to convert. I am sure you have read my 3 in 1 powder, AC ! There is never discarded curry leaves in our plates after a meal because, they would have already entered our system in powder form to provide us the necessary nutrients ! In this "IL Blog Forum", you, with your almost daily blogs are like ஒண்ணே ஒண்ணு, கருகைப்பிலை கன்னு Love, Chithra. |
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| | Dear Adivaasi your fellow adivaasini (me) will certainly visit your house for all these varieties and past varieties too. I will get the thogaiyal recipe sometime.. I wonder if you use tamarind & sugar or vellam etc. |
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| | AC, the glory of our favourite curry leaves !Please go to Curry Leaves Chutney (Without Onion & Garlic) Curry Leaves Chutney with Onion & Garlic Curry Leaves Podi Curry Leaves Thokku Love, Chithra. |
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| | Dear TDU Sir Share the same while making adai batter...DH does the same to buttermilk or shall I say Neer Mooru... I do the ghee thingy to my rasam... So along with curry leaf and kadugu and cumin in that ghee top off rasam with this and everyone will become rasa muda kudiyars (i think thats our label!!!) in no time... Right there is my secret to my rasam... hmm now its out in the open...what to do??? |
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| | MYSTERY green powderDear Chithra Trust you to provide the recipes, ..the recipe links.. the drying method.. and maybe eating ?? method too all in one go.... Thats a neat way to use MW and dry and powder and use the "green podi" to flavor all. Long live the MYSTERY green powder....checking out the links...Nobody has mentioned if they still need to pay for this...?? |
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| | Hey AC, I use little vellam and tamarind..and i can have it for 3 to 4 months..it does not spoil..gone are the days when these used to stay for years....when i was kid..but it used to grinded manually on the stone... Then if getting free..yes curry leaves...come to any of the reliance fresh stores..it is there for you to pick whatever quantity you want.... yesterday, when i picked some veggies in the street corner vendor..he did give me both coriander, and curry leaves...but nobody gives chillies free this day..... |
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| | Shanthi dearie I just did some chindu mudinchu vellai between the two of you about coffee...what can i say... kulla penmanis fault...Cheeniya Sir has groomed naradhi so well.....hope u dont read it.... Count me in (maybe not after the above said stuff) for the thogaiyal.. |
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| | Hey AC, Just saw it....what to do ..i cannot send in coffee from chennai to muscat....so maybe he has to learn to make coffee at home... But it is not compromise...actually it was my way of telling him to accept what is available that day...for the sake of the kids.after all we have to set examples.....they should learn to adjust to all circumstances...they may not get bournvita in somebody's house who is diabetic/don't have kids...so anything served should be accepted...maybe i am too strong on my principles..but that is how i am.... you are always welcome for the coffee as well as thogaiyal.... |
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| |  Dear AC, Yeah you get curry leaves and corriander leaves for free. But Chillies no. But for one rupee you get close to 6 to 8 chillies depending upon the size. All these are with the street corner vendors only. My parent's garden have lots of curry leaves trees and my father is a lover of these green herbs, curry leaves, coriander leaves, mint etc and he wants his rasam or sambar to be tempered with these leaves. And my brother always comments sambarla, rasathula thazhai potirukeengala illa thazhaila sambar, rasam panni irukeengalanu. But I cant even imagine my Rasam without curry leaves. I dont fry the curry leaves in ghee except for Milagu Jeeraga Rasam. What I do is I cut the leaves into two with my hand and sprinkle it on the rasam then fry the mustard, jeera and hing in ghee and pour on top of the curry leaves. And lo my rasam goes off in a jiffy. If no curry leaves, I have to beg everyone to have it (though they dont eat the curry leaves, they carefully remove them and put it in my plate DD and DH I mean). |
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| |  Dear AC We all like these flavour of curry leaves very much. So I used it my cooking very often. I like the curry leaves from the fish curry and Sambhar more than from the poriyals(as it has the raw smell). Recently I started making my chutney with a hand ful of curry leaves, coconut, raw mango and small onion. I make it very spicy. It tastes nice when it is little spicy. This I do mainly because DH will not eat curry leaves chutney. Vidhi |
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| | Dear AC, could not help comingback with my story of karuveppilai, when i went to meerut after my daughter's marriage the flowers laid gardens were a treat, i used to go for walks with camera and no karuveppilai in the market but they had a lovely plant on the side walk of the road, i used to help myself for the day quota tuck it into my side pocket and walk back home to make upma morning break fast and my son in law and daughter used to be amazed at this, yeah it is my mom who used to show all the plants while travelling in train and what and how to use it and so on....sk |
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Recent Blog Entries by Anandchitra
- Winter vegetables and more (2nd December 2008)
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- Come Catch me Fat Ghost (19th November 2008)
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