Curry leaves (Murraya koenigii Spreng.)

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Curry leaves (Murraya koenigii Spreng.) write_toggle_text (47) Hide foreign names

Synonyms

bot Chalcas koenigii Arabic ورق الكاري وَرَق الكارِي Waraq al-kari Bengali Barsunga Bulgarian Листа от къри Lista ot kuri Burmese Pindosin, Pyim daw thein, Kyaung-thwe Chinese

(Cantonese) 咖哩葉 [ga lēi yihp] Ga lei yihp Chinese

(Mandarin) 调料九里香 [diào liào jǐu lǐ xiāng] Diao liao jiu li xiang Czech Karí lístky Dhivehi ހިކަނދި ގަސް Hikan'dhi gas Danish Karry blad Dutch Kerriebladeren English Curry leaves Estonian Karrilehed French Feuilles de Cari, Feuilles de Curry, Caloupilé (Réunion), Carripoulé (Ile Maurice) Galician Follas de Curry German Curryblätter Gujarati Mitho limdo Hebrew עלי קרי עֱלֵי קָרִי Aley kari, Ali qari Hindi Meetha neem, Kari patta, Katneem, Bursunga Hungarian Curry levelek Icelandic Karrílauf Indonesian Daun kari Italian Fogli di Cari Japanese カレー・リーフ,

ナンヨウザンショウ Kare-rihu, Nanyōzansiyō, Nanyozansiyo Kannada ಕರಿ ಬೇವು Karibevu Khmer Xantroc Korean 커리, 커리 리프 Keori, Kori, Keori ripu Laotian Khi be, Dok kibi Lithuanian Kvapioji murėja Malay Daun kari pla, Karupillam, Garupillai, Karwa pale, Kerupulai Malayalam Karivepila Marathi कढीलिंब Kadhilimb, Karhilimb Norwegian Karriblader Oriya Basango Portuguese Folhas de Caril Punjabi ਕਰੀਪਤਾ, ਕਰੀਪੱਤਾ Karipata, Karipatta, Bowala Russian Листья карри Listya karri Sanskrit Girinimba, Suravi Singhalese Karapincha Slovak Karí

list Spanish Hoja, Hojas de Curry Swahili Bizari, Mchuzi Tagalog Bignay Tamil கறூவேப்பிலை, கறிவேப்பிலை Kariveppilai, Karuveppilai Telugu Karepeku, Karivepaku Thai หอมแขก, โสม, สมัด, หมอน้อย Bai karee, Hom khaek, Samat, Som, Mo noi Vietnamese Cari, Lá cà ri, Cơm nguội, Ngệt quới koenig Cari, La ca ri, Com nguoi, Nget quoi koenig

 

Curry leaf

Used plant part

The leaves. Since they lose their delicate fragrance when dried, you should try to obtain them fresh; don't waste your time with the dried stuff!

Plant family

Rutaceae (citrus family).

Curry flower, close-up www.botany.hawaii.edu © Gerald Carr

 

Sensory quality

Fresh and pleasant, remotely reminiscent of tangerines.

Main constituents

Fresh leaves are rich in an essential oil, but the exact amount depends besides freshness and genetic strain also on the extraction technique. Typical figures run from 0.5 to 2.7%. The following aroma components have been identified in curry leaves of Sri Lanka (in parentheses, the content in mg/kg fresh leaves): β-caryophyllene (2.6 ppm), β-gurjunene (1.9), β-elemene (0.6), β-phellandrene (0.5), β-thujene (0.4), α-selinene (0.3), β-bisabolene (0.3), furthermore limonene, β-trans-ocimene and β-cadinene (0.2 ppm). (Phytochemistry, 21, 1653, 1982) Newer work has shown a large variability of the composition of the essential oil of curry leaves. In North Indian plants, monoterpenes prevail (β-phellandrene, α-pinene, β-pinene), whereas South Indian samples yielded sesquiterpenes: β-caryophyllene, aromadendrene, α-selinene. (Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 17, 144, 2002)

Origin

The curry tree is native to India; today, it is found wild or become wild again, almost everywhere in the Indian subcontinent excluding the higher levels of the Himalayas. In the East, its range extends into Burma.

Sterile curry tree

Etymology

The botanical name Murraya koenigii refers to two 18.th century botanists: the Swede Johann Andreas Murray (1740–1791) and the German Johann Gerhard König (1728–1785). The English term curry is of Indian origin: In Tamil, the most important South Indian language, the word kari [கறி] means “soup” or “sauce”; this is also the basis of the Tamil name for curry-leaves, kariveppilai [கறிவேப்பிலை] which contains ilai [இலை] “leaf”. In English usage, curry has a wider meaning encompassing not only spicy foods of various kinds, but also Indian-style spice mixtures (“curry powder”). In North Indian (Aryan) languages, curry leaves are usually denoted by their Tamil name, or an adaptation thereof, for example Hindi karipatta [कारीपत्ता] and or Bengali karhi-pat [কাঢ়িপাত]

“Curry-leaf”, or Sinhala karapincha [කරපිංඡා]. The same first element is also found in Marathi kadhi-limb [कढीलिंब] (from limbu [लिंबू] “lemon”) and Kannada kari-bevu [ಕರಿಬೇವು], where second element bevu [ಬೇವು] designates the neem tree (Azadirachta indica), which has similar foliage.

Selected Links

Plant Cultures: Curry Leaf Bhatiya Nurseries: Curry Leaf Tree Sorting Murraya names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au) Dave Woodward on Curry (www.wudhi.com) Cooking with Kurma: Curry Leaf Heaven (kurma.net)

 

 

 

Curry tree with fruits Curry leaves are extensively used in Southern India and Sri Lanka (and are absolutely necessary for the authentic flavour), but are also of some importance in Northern India. Together with South Indian immigrants, curry leaves reached Malaysia, South Africa and Réunion island. Outside the Indian sphere of influence, they are rarely found. Curry powder is a British invention to imitate the flavour of Indian cooking with minimal effort. Some curry powders, or so the books tell, indeed contain curry leaves, but probably only for historic or linguistic reasons, since dried curry leaves lose their fragrance within days. A typical curry powder should derive its taste mainly from roasted cumin, roasted coriander, black pepper, chiles and roasted fenugreek. Other typical Indian spices often contained in curry powders are dried ginger, ajwain and celery (as a substitute for Indian radhuni), furthermore salt, flour from lightly toasted

lentils and aromatic Moghul spices in variable amounts (cinnamon, cloves, green cardamom, Indian bay-leaves). The yellow colour stems from turmeric. I think it's pretty unreasonable to put spices with absolutely no tradition in India into a spice blend that claims to have an “Indian flavour”, but nevertheless galangale, caraway, allspice, and zedoary are occasionally listed as ingredients in curry powders. Remember that since curry powder is not a traditional recipe, there is little consensus about what should go into it, and anyone is free to sell his own creation.

Curry tree in full flower Observant readers will notice that the recipe for curry powder outlined in the previous paragraph appears like a compromise of the Northern Indian garam masala and the Southern Indian sambaar podi (see cumin for both mixtures). Anyway, you cannot represent the large spectrum of Indian cooking styles in one single spice mixture; Indians prepare their mixtures separately for each dish and usually do not store them, thus guaranteeing the unique flavour of each recipe. Curry powder, therefore, belongs more to British or international cuisine than to India; anyone trying to cook authentic Indian recipes should stick to traditional Indian spice mixtures or, even better, single spices. Curry powder has been introduced to some Far Eastern countries in the past, and today plays but a minor rôle as a flavouring in China, Indonesia and, above all, Vietnam. In Indian cuisines, curry leaves are used fresh; for some recipes, the leaves should be

oven-dried or toasted immediately before usage. Another common technique is short frying in butter or oil (see ajwain for this procedure) . Since South Indian cuisine is dominantly vegetarian, curry leaves seldom appear in non-vegetarian food; the main applications are thin lentil or vegetable curries (sambaar [சாம்பார்]) and stuffings for the crispy samosa [समोसा]. Because of their soft texture, they are never removed before serving, but can be eaten without any hazard. See coconut for the Southern Indian recipe bese bele. In Sri Lanka, the delicious chicken and beef curries are flavoured with curry leaves; the leaves are furthermore used for kottu roti [කෝත්තු රෝටි], vegetables and sliced bread which are quickly fried together. Sri Lankan cooking is very hot and pungent due to almost excessive use of chiles, but also very aromatic.

Compared to Indians, Sri Lankans eat more meats and less dairy products; meats and vegetables are often cooked in gravies based on water or thin coconut milk instead of yoghurt. Fresh fruits of the Curry tree The typical Sri Lankan flavour is due to heavy toasting some spices (cumin, coriander, black mustard, fenugreek) until they reach a rather dark colour; it is often said that Sri Lankan curries have a “darker” or “browner” flavour than Indian curries. Sri Lankan cooks often use aromatic spices native to the island (cinnamon, cardamom) and fresh leaves (curry leaves, Pandanus leaves and lemon grass; the latter two are not in common use in India). Curry leaves may be kept in the refrigerator for some time, but are better kept frozen; do not remove them from the branches before usage! The term curry is applied inflationarily to many dishes of Far Eastern origin. As shown above, in its true home South India it means a thin, spicy vegetable stew. In

Thailand, though, any food cooked in coconut milk is called a curry (gaeng); the term is similarly used in Vietnam, where curries (ca ri [ca ri], see rice paddy herb) are indeed often flavoured with Anglo-Indian curry powder. Laksa, a soupy noodle dish from Malaysia and Singapore, is often referred to as “curried noodles” or the like, probably, because it contains coconut and derives the familiar yellow colour from turmeric (see Vietnamese coriander for details about laksa). In Burma, however, a completely different definition of “curry” is in use: Burmese “curries” owe their flavour to a fried paste of ground onions and other spices (see onion for details). Lastly, in Indonesia, any spicy food may be termed a curry (kari in Indonesian). Sometimes, one even hears about Ethiopian (see long pepper) or Caribbean “curries”, whatever this may mean (except, perhaps, the least common denominator of all those: Spiciness).

 

 

 

 

 

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