Curry leaves

I picked up some curry leaves at my local grocer, and would love to hear your favorite use(s) for them.

hardlikearmour
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10 Comments

MaryMaryCulinary January 9, 2012
I do a lot of South Indian and Sri Lankan cooking, and I am always throwing a sprig into something. However, I buy them in large bags, so I was excited to find this curry leaf sambol recipe as it uses a cup of the leaves. It's delicious with rice and I love it on egg hoppers. Enjoy!
http://lesauce.typepad.com/le_sauce/2010/07/curry-leaf-sambol-karapincha-sambol.html
 
hardlikearmour January 9, 2012
Thanks everyone for the advice. I will look through some Indian recipes and figure out a plan! If I don't use them soon, I will freeze them for later.
 
pauljoseph January 9, 2012
Curry leaves can make miracle in your cooking http://www.flickr.com/photos/keralacookery/6665796665/sizes/o/in/photostream/
 
pauljoseph January 9, 2012
Thank you gingerroot you remember me
 
The S. January 9, 2012
I use curry leaves a lot in my Indian cooking. They don't have a single use per se, so much as you would be better served by browsing some Indian cooking sites/cookbooks and just choosing some recipes to play with. And I have to second the idea that they freeze well.
 
RobertaJ January 9, 2012
If you want to preserve your bounty for future use, stick them into a heavy-duty plastic zippy bag, and toss them into the freezer. Either on the stem, or loose, doesn't matter. When you go to use them, just toss them into your dish, no need to "thaw". I usually take the spine of my chef's knife and "bruise" them a bit when I use them from frozen, You can do the same thing with fresh bay leaves as well.
 
Jain S. January 8, 2012
They're usually used in South Indian cooking. An easy thing to make is a lentil soup, then at the end, in a separate small pan- heat up a few tablespoons of canola oil and add in the curry leaves. Let them cook a few seconds till they're done sputtering and look a bit shriveled and curled up and then add the oil along w the leaves into the soup and stir it in. This is commonly called a "tadka" and can be varied by adding other spices- dried whole red peppers, black mustard seed, cumin seeds, etc. just be careful not to let them burn.
 
gingerroot January 8, 2012
I've had them in my CSA box regularly and usually turn to pauljoseph's amazing collection of recipes for inspiration. They have such a strong, intriguing aroma, almost like something is burning. I recently made a corn, chorizo and curry leaf risotto with cilantro that was pretty tasty.
 
gingerroot January 8, 2012
I've had them in my CSA box regularly and usually turn to pauljoseph's amazing collection of recipes for inspiration. They have such a strong, intriguing aroma, almost like something is burning. I recently made a corn, chorizo and curry leaf risotto with cilantro that was pretty tasty.
 
Droplet January 8, 2012
I once read a suggestion by an Indian lady to fry them in butter ( I assume you got fresh ones) like you do with sage leaves, and you then strain the butter in a jar and store for various uses.
 
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