Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook





Freezing Curry Leaves

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On 14/06/2010 05:06pm, Phil wrote:

My brother arrived from Scotland with fresh curry leaves: what a difference they made to the chicken mulligatawny soup!

He says I should freeze them. Is that correct? Apologies if I've asked this before and forgotten; I can't recall the technique for searching out earlier postings.

Phil

On 14/06/2010 06:06pm, Mamta wrote:

How wonderful for you. Here you go; http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13447

On 14/06/2010 09:06pm, Phil wrote:

Many thanks, Mamta!

I think I saw this once before, but must have mislaid it.

Phil

On 14/06/2010 09:06pm, Andrew wrote:

I have some frozen curry leaves and they're over eight months old and still good! I don't know if your supposed to keep them that long but mine are just fine.

On 15/06/2010 09:06pm, Phil wrote:

Thanks for that: most helpful!

Phil

On 24/06/2012 04:06pm, Winton wrote:

I've had prolonged supply problems of fresh curry leaves. Been adding bought dry leaves for recipe compliance while fully realising they made a minimal if not non-existent difference.

Imagine my delight on suddenly finding fresh leaves in my local Sainsburys! Bought all the remaining few bags, one for the 'fridge, the rest to be frozen. So if your supermarket does not stock them demand they do! I'd forgotten what a big difference fresh leaves make for the aroma and taste for a good curry.

Winton

p.s. I am not a shareholder of any supermarket!

On 24/06/2012 06:06pm, Sid wrote:

Last week I decided that some of my frozen curry leaves needed to be used, so I made a curry leaf chutney...and it was great!! It only lasted a few days, but it was worth it.

On 24/06/2012 06:06pm, Mamta wrote:

Was it the recipe on this site? I love it too.

By the way, that last post was by me, not 'guest'. My password is not working for now and I hadn't bothered to fill my name above, which you are required to do, unless you are an administrator!

On 24/06/2012 09:06pm, Sid wrote:

Hello Mamta. I assume your question was for me. The curry leaf chutney I made is a recipe from a book I have called 'cooking with pedatha'. I didn't know there was a curry leaf chutney recipe on here...I'll have to check that out!!

Sid

On 25/06/2012 12:06am, SteveAUS wrote:

Love fresh curry leaves. Always got some in the freezer but fresh is best. The aroma is so unique and then when it goes in the hot oil in the pan its something else. I get bags of it from my local Indian shop. Unfortunately my curry leaf plant has dropped all its leaves as its now winter here. It springs back to life in spring! (pardon the pun)!

Cheers

Steve

On 25/06/2012 01:06am, Sid wrote:

The dried ones are hardly worth bothering with IMO. If I can't get the fresh ones I go without. I might keep my eyes open for a curry leaf plant. Do they grow okay indoors in the UK?

On 25/06/2012 10:06am, Mamta wrote:

I have 2-3 curry leaf plants, but it is difficult to get enough leaves from them here. As mentioned above, they loose all their leaves in winter. They do okay indoors in summer and then I put the pots out in summer. In my opinion, they are not worth the trouble in cold country like ours.

On 26/06/2012 02:06am, SteveAUS wrote:

Same here Mamta as I live in a cooler part of Australia with overnight frosts (but hot summers) it has to come inside of an evening. Sometimes I forget so now its just a stick in a pot lolol. It doesnt flourish as it probably should do because of this change in temps I guess. It probably gets shocked. I find it easier to buy a big bag of fresh for next to nothing and freeze them.

Cheers

Steve

On 08/07/2012 12:07pm, phil wrote:

I wish I'd thought of seeking out some fresh curry leaves when I was in Manchester in May. Back home in France, I have no chance of finding them.

Does anyone know a decent Indian foodstore in Manchester? I'll be there again next year. There are good Chinese supermarkets there, which is great, but I don't recall seeing a grocery store there which sells Indian stuff.

On 08/07/2012 12:07pm, Sid wrote:

Another question regarding curry leaves. I once bought some that had bunches of green berries on them. Are the green berries edible or should they be discarded?

On 08/07/2012 02:07pm, Winton wrote:

My understanding is that the seeds of the berries are poisonous although the skin/flesh isn't (but I can't recall any culinary use for the external part.

If the berries were more ripe (going black) could have been worth planting them!

On 08/07/2012 08:07pm, Mamta wrote:

I have not heard of anyone eating the curry (meetha neem) tree berries as a fruit or using them in cooking. Only leaves are used. They fruits are sweetish when ripe, but not tasty.

Only fresh seeds germinate. You often see many seedlings and little plants growing under the mother tree after the fruiting season is over and the berries fall to the ground, but they do not grow if they are kept and are even a couple of months old. The fruit has to be in soil pretty promptly.

Phil, I am sure curry leaves can be ordered by post, as long as they are expected to arrive within a couple of days of posting. Manchester must have many Indian grocers selling curry leaves. This one has a Gujarati name and should have curry leaves; http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/patel-foods-manchester .

I have tried growing curry leaf plants. They are difficult to keep alive in UK, have to be indoors during cold weather. Their leaves are lost during winter anyway, and they seldom have enough mature leaves in summer to use in cooking. Very young leaves do not have a lot of flavour in them.

On 14/07/2012 04:07pm, phil wrote:

Thanks, Mamta.

re that link: I forgot to specify that I meant Manchester, England. We Brits do that a lot!

Phil

On 18/07/2012 10:07am, Paula wrote:

I live in Cyprus and make alot of curries but can not get hold of fresh curry leaves, any ideas?

On 18/07/2012 10:07am, Winton wrote:

Would the weather in Cyprus be clement enough to grow the seeds yourself?

On 18/07/2012 06:07pm, AskCy wrote:

Cyprus has a lot of sunshine (more than 300+ days a year), but the problem would be getting hold of the seeds in the first place as many things won't deliver there.

Steve

On 18/07/2012 09:07pm, Mamta wrote:

Curry tree seeds have to be germinated when very fresh. If you get them from somewhere and they are even a month or two old, it is too late for them to germinate.

On 21/07/2012 12:07pm, phil wrote:

I get my brother to bring me them from Scotland to our home in the South of France. If you know people in the UK, that might work.

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