Curry leaves

Curry leaves are as important to Asian food as bay leaves are to European food, but never try to substitute one for the other. Curry leaves, either fresh or dried, are usually the first ingredient added to the small amount of oil in which a dish is to be cooked, and the fragrance and flavour are unmistakable.

Health Tips: Apart from cooking, the curry leaf has a number of medicinal uses also. It is an essential ingredient of almost all traditional medicine systems of peninsular India, sometimes with amazingly good results. Unani, Ayurveda and other systems use it to cure ailments such as piles, to allay heat of the body and are useful in leucoderma and blood disorders, and this has been proven by experts of western medicine also. In India, the curry leaf is used to prevent conditions such as nausea and stomach upsets. It is also used in treating skin irritations and poisonous bites. Its oils are invaluable as repellants and to cure skin disorders common to the tropics.

Other Languages:
Burma: pyi-naw-thein
India: meetha neem, karipattar, karuvepillay
Malaysia: daun kari, karupillay
Sri Lanka: karapincha