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Feb 11, 2013

Curry patta

The whole house smells of curry leaves today. Bai was using them to make the fish fry we'll be having for lunch. (I'm still full from breakfast, but I'll somehow work up the courage for a bit of fish!)

Curry leaves, or curry patta, create one of my favorite Indian flavors. It's an aromatic flavor, not unlike lemongrass, from my point of view (in effect, though not in taste of course). And similar to cinnamon sticks, cooking with curry leaves adds flavor without the sometimes gritty texture of a spice powder.

Vivek's family uses curry leaves for upma and poha (another of my favorite Indian breakfast dishes) -- and our friend Anshul once made a pumpkin-and-curry leaf dish for Thanksgiving at our place. They're also used in other southern Indian dishes, including vada, and in kadhi, which my sweet sister-in-law made for me in the midst of her wedding festivities in Bangalore last year -- so it's no wonder I love them so much.

Happily, it's considered to have health benefits, too -- including being anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant and also, according to Pops, helping to lower blood pressure. So I shall just keep eating them.

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