Curry leaf information

Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii Spreng) (Syn. Bergera koenigii Koen (N.O. Aurantiaceae), Chaleos koenigii Kurz ex Swingle) is a perennial leaf vegetable. It belongs to the family Rutaceae and is named ‘Murraya’ after John Adam Murray, Professor of Botany at Gottingen and editor of many of Linnaeus’s works. It is a native of the mountainous parts and grows up to an elevation of 1500 m. The curry leaf is found growing throughout India including the Andaman Islands up to an altitude of 1500m. It is recorded wild in Garwhal to Sikkim, Bengal, Assam, the Deccan, Circar mountains, Western ghats, Coromandel and Travancore – Cochin. The leaves of the plant are used extensively for seasoning and flavouring dishes. Curry leaf is exported as curry leaf and as curry leaf oil from India.

The leaves of the plant are employed extensively as flavourant in curries like ‘dal’, ‘South Indian Sambar’, ‘rasam’ and chutneys and mulligatawny. Ground curry leaf with mature coconut kernel and spices forms an excellent preserve. ‘Veppilakkatti’, a very famous preparation of South India, can be made with the following ingredients: curry leaf (100 g); tender leaves of malta lemon (50 g); common salt (50 g); seedless tamarind (40 g); red chilli powder without seed (20 g); fenugreek powder (2 g); asafoetida (6 g); black pepper powder (2 g); gingelly oil (10 g). For preparing ‘veppilakkatti’, fry the asafoetida in gingelly oil and powder it. Mash the tender leaves of malta lemon in a mixi and remove all the fibres. Then add curry leaves, red chilli powder and other ingredients and grind well. If kept in airtight containers it can be stored for a long time.