Curry leaves is to Indian cuisine what garlic is to Italian cooking or butter is to french cuisine. They are also treated as shabbily these days, discarded from the plates like an unwelcome pest. Next time try and consume it. Its’ benefits are varied.
An Indian meal preparation with out curry leaves is unimaginable. Its health benefits vary from good eyesight, hair, skin, digestion, immunity and much more. Why then, you surely must have wondered, are they discarded from the plates as a nuisance?
South Indian cuisine, is incomplete without the flavour of curry leaves sputtered in smoking oil. Curry leaves’ use can be traced back to 4th century literature. It’s perhaps one of the oldest known flavouring herb known to us. It’s use pre-dates the usage of modern day garnishing with fresh herbs. Its flavour, it so happens, is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The various medicinal benefits discovered by generations past is substantial and significant.
Curry leaves are only used for tempering nowadays. Fresh curry leaf plucked straight from the shrub would be added to buttermilk and other soothing drinks as well as side dishes. It is also ground into chutneys and curry powders. Tempering is a relatively recent phenomenon of infusing it’s aroma while loosing some of the key benefits.
It is hard to escape the fact that curry leaves, or “Kadi patta” in hindi, is synonymous with curry or kadi which roughly translates to gravy in India. These leaves are used to make curry throughout India. It is also referred to as sweet neem (Murraya Koenigii) tree.
They are loaded with nutrients, many macro and micro minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Curry leaf is a super nutrient food. It may be as well be termed as the food for brains.
It is considered to be very good for eyesight and also delays the onset of cataract if used regularly. It is also good to reduce body mass. It helps delaying natural graying of hair and also helps develop hair roots. It works wonders on limiting dandruff and invigorating hair growth. It is good for overall health and helps develop the immune system.
Please try planting a curry leaf tree in your backyard. It can be grown in your garden or even in a pot or gunny bag. 2 to 4 leaves daily is more that enough to imbue its benefits.
It grows without much care. There are two types of curry leaves that I have personally come across and I am convinced that there are many more. Once the plant is established there are very few pests or climatic events that will harm it. Curry leaf plants are best propagated by seeds. Plants from cuttings are generally considered to be less healthy and also seem constrained to develop.
You can always cut or buy a big bunch from your local farmers market and keep the stems dipped in water to make it last for a few days. We tie such bunch to a rope and keep submerged inside our open well. It stays for for a week to 2 depending on the weather.
Covered in a polythene cover it will even last well for 2 to 3 weeks inside a refrigerator.
Next time even if you hate it, Please try consuming it. It will not harm you in any way on the contrary it is good for your health.
I for one am eagerly awaiting what else the researchers in laboratories are awaiting to discover from this humble leaf.
