I love curry leaf trees.

The sight and the aroma they release when you brush past them make me smile. They can be hard to find in a nursery and they are not cheap. I got mine from Bunnings as a small seedling.

I am keeping it to less than two meters tall through regular harvesting and pruning. The soil around it drains well and is about 6.5 to 7.0 pH. As you can see, I have removed the lower branches completely and planted other herbs around the base with no problems.

Occasionally, ripe fruit drops and successfully germinates. I transplant these into pots and give them away once they are matured enough.

Edit: I have had my first flowers (4 years in):

I was a bit unsure myself what a sprig of curry leaves is as some of the recipes I use call for 10 sprigs. On the right of the plate below is about 5 sprigs, it seems a lot but trust me it is right. I am yet to ‘over do it’ on the curry leaf front ☺.

Strip the leaves off the twigs and add them as required to the dish If you are wondering, the leaves are safe to eat.

Fresh is best, then refrigerated from your local Asian grocer, then and only then, dried leaves. 🙂 

Whenever I ask people if they want some fresh curry leaves from my kitchen garden they mostly ask what you can do with them. If you click on this link you will find a growing list of recipes that use curry leaves.

Enjoy,

PK

Here are some curry leaf and general ingredients posts: