Curry leaves (aka Kadi Patta), whether you buy them from the store or have a plant, are a precious commodity. Watch the video to learn a simple way to dry and preserve them for later use.
…adding a pinch of Spice to your life!
…adding a pinch of Spice to your life!
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
Love checking out your recipes, thanks for sharing.
I tried this effective way to store curry leaves fresh and just like I was surprised you’d be surprised that they were fresh for almost 2 months.
You need to buy curry leaves with the main stem, and only remove the individual sprigs separately,wash them and air dry them. Once they are dry, hold all the sprigs together and place them vertically in a glass bottle and put them in the refrigerator. Use as and when required.
I was surprised, I tried this in the first week of July and they were fresh until yesterday wen I used the last sprig.
Thought I’d share with you and ur readers 🙂
I bought some dried curry leaves at a store and on the bag it says should be cleaned before use. How do you clean dried curry leaves?
Hi Mary,
It can be as simple as putting them under running water to remove any dust. You may want to pat them dry before using them.
Can we dry and store mint in similar way ?
Thanks Brian, I’m going to try that tip. The best thing about the dry curry keaves is that these fridge dried leaves have the flavor & also, reconstitute well once added to the cooked foods, especially the daals & upma etc, where they are gives a little time tu soak/cook in the liquid for a little time.
Ive Found that the best way to keep curry leaves fresh is to wash and dry them, then leave them on the stalk and to then wrap them up in a damp paper towel nad put in a big into a zip lock baggie and throw it in the crisper! If you change the paper towel weekly theyll last quite a while I’ve had curry leaves for almost 3 months now!
Thanks Brian! That was a useful tip!
Companion plants out of Athen’s, Ohio, also sells and ships them in the U.S. I just bought two plants and they came in very good shape. http://www.companionplants.com
Waiting for march when the Indian grocery store gets the leaves in from California. Then I will try this method. Thanks!
I put my leaves in the fridge for 7 days and afterwards put them in a jar to store in the pantry. Took them out today to use them and found I have a jar of moldy curry leaves. They still give off their distinct aroma but I’m afraid they are no longer usable. What went wrong?
Hi Barb,
The leaves have to be really dry (making a rustling noise if you move them around) before storing. Any moisture which is left will cause them to mold. If they are moldy, they cannot be used.
hi, thanks for the tip. I have another way of storing it.
I clean the curry leaves, saute in some oil on low flame till they become crispy. After cooling them i grind them
with little dried red chilli(optional), little salt and
store this powder in refrigerator. I use this readymade curry powder as and when required. It give nice flavour and
also there is no removal of these leaves while eating as it is in powder form
Hi Sup,
That sounds like a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
I am so glad to have found this video on drying curry leaves as I have been asking my mother and she suggested I put it in the freezer, which is not effective. I had a question about your tip – do you need to cover the curry leaves when you put it in the refrigerator to dry. Such as a plastic cover or foil? Thanks!!
Hi Anu,
No, you should not cover – just lay them on a paper-towel on the shelf… uncovered.
hi hetal &anuja!
can you tell me where is put curry patta in the freezer or
refrigerator?
plz reply soon as soon possible for me.
bye, tc.
Hi Kavita,
If you plan on using the curry leaves soon (in a week or so), keep them in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator.
can you tell me where is put curry patta in the freezer or refrigerator?
plz reply as soon as possible for me.
ok.
tc,
bye.
thx !
Can we dry & store Cilantro Leaves too !
Hi Zinnia,
Yes, you can but they tend to look wilted and loose a lot of flavor.
Hi Anuja/Hetal,
Thank u v much for this tip.I tried it out and it works for me.
Hetal, Most welcome, You don’t need to Thank me. I just dropped a water in this ocean of recipes and tips. So we must Thank you. I really appreciate your effort in responding your viewers comments/questions. Thanks again, Sandy.
Dear Anuja and Hetal, This a great tip, But there is a another alternative I would like to share.
Take the curry leaf, just roll it in the paper towel for few minutes, then store only the curry leaves in an air-tight plastic box. But before closing the lid, just place an aluminium foil, and close the box. Store this in the Freezer. When ever you want, just open the box, lift the aluminium foil, take required amount of leaves while you cook and put it back. This would help retaining the color and freshness for months. Try out this.
-Sandy
Hi Sandy,
Very interesting tip…we will definitely try it out. We are so amazed at all of the different variations people have and feel proud to be able to provide a platform for everyone to share their great ideas. We also learn something new everyday. Thanks.
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
There is another way of storing the curry leaves fresh without drying them. As soon as you get the leaves from the stores, take off the leaves from the sprig, wash well and dry them under the fan or dab with a towel to remove the water and the moisture. Now store these leaves in a GLASS JAR and stash it into the fridge. I find that the leaves stay fresh even for a month this way.
Interesting, Pavitra, will give it a shot! Do the leaves retain the color?
Hi Anuja,
The leaves do retain the color. If there is a provision to upload the pics, I can upload the pic of the curry leaves stored this way for almost 3 weeks. You can checkout for yourself how fresh they look 🙂 Probably I can leave a mail. 🙂
Sure, you can email them to us but you know we do believe you 😉
Emails:
Anuja@ShowMeThecurry.com
or
Hetal@ShowMeTheCurry.com
Hey!
Once the leaves are dried and stored and it’s time to cook/use them, do we wash them again to try to get the texture back or is it best to just throw in the dried ones straight from the container as is so the flavor isn’t lost?
Hi Susan,
You can drop them in as is. No need to re-wet.
I have curry leaf plant which i have kept in patio.Now winter has started so should i keep it indoors or outdoors?Kindly suggest.
Hi Resh,
Definitely bring it indoors before the first frost comes. The plant goes into dormancy so what we do is take all the leaves off and dry them for the winter. If you have multiple plants, you can keep one with the leaves on to provided fresh leaves as long as possible.
Thanks Hetal.
But while keeping it indoors do i have to take any special care bec it wont get any light.
Once the plant goes into dormancy, you don’t have to do anything to it. My plant stays in my garage in the dark for the whole winter. In the spring, new leaves come out. One thing you can do is to prune off excess branches so that the plant does not become top heavy the next spring.
hi hetal… we stay in philadelphia and have bad winters… i do have plants at home and bring it indoors in september… we dont take of the leaves but.. we still use fresh leaves and they r good in winters too… our plant has stayed on for 4 winters and is still doing fine without us cutting its leaves… we use fresh leaves all the time
Hi Anisha,
Yes, you are right. If you bring the plant inside the house, it will stay through the winter. However, I have a “tree” in a rather large pot that is difficult to bring all the way inside. I keep it in the garage through the winter. The leaves fall out, but the plant survives.
Hi Hetal & Anuja
I love your show! Your tips as well as receipies are simple and easy to follow.
Recently I brought peeled garlic cloves from grocery store and have stored in freezer do you have any better tip? Problem with this one is it becomes too stiff and loses some taste.
Hi Namrata,
Actually, peeled garlic is less potent than fresh garlic that you peel at home. I heard somewhere that they soak the garlic in water to make the peels come off easily. This soaking process makes the garlic less flavorful. Again, this is something I heard so I am not positive it is correct but I can vouch for the the fact that I have to use twice as much of it as the normal garlic.
Having said this, freezing it might remove even more flavor. If you have some time, you can peel fresh garlic at home in bulk and then grind it in the food processor. Take a baking sheet lined with foil and measure out teaspoons or tablespoons of the garlic onto the pan. Freeze it for an hour or two and then transfer it to freezer ziploc bags. It will be preserved, ready to use and in the portions that you need. This trick works great for ginger as well.
Thanks! Will surely try!
I tried making the khandvi but it did not set so that I could roll it. I followed your you tube video exactly. I even tried heating it up in the oven and the mixture still remained damp. What could I have done?
Nice tip. I use the “paneer maker” (small stainless steel container with lid having many small holes around)to keep curry leaves and store in the refrigerator and use it as and when required. I use to store green chills too. The color, fragrance and other food qualities will be unchanged.
You people are doing a great job. Thanks a lot.
May GOD bless you.
Really, I have one of those containers and they just don’t work for me:( I will give it another shot.
hi
can i preserve the curry leaves in india and can i bring here by the same method.how long it will be fresh
If the leaves are dry, you can bring them from India. They do take up a lot of space though in your suitcase (although very light) and may crush in transport. Once dried, you can use them for months.
did not work for us… my husband travelled with Dried curry leaves but unfortunately they checked his luggage in immigration and threw away all the leaves…. may be it was just a bad luck
hi.
just a simple method that i tried. just wash the leaves. pat it with paper towel to dry the water. store it airtight container, and keep it in refrigerator. its already two months n still the leaves looking fresh. and the flavour just great.
thanks Hetal & Anuja
u saved my $$$$ 🙂
Thanks for this excellent tip.
Storing curry leaves have always been a problem for me..
I will try this tip for sure !
Rgds
Siri
Hi hetal and anuja,
this tip is too good.I need u r help.
plz tel me how to Preserv Betel Leaves.
plz post tip as soon as possibel for me.
ok take care
bye
hi,
just give a try ,u will get the same ,this can be done in a day .i used to dry methi also the same way .i use to dry it out in my method and use it for idli podi ,sambar etc.curry leaves it might take 3min ,fenugreek leaves 2min.
Will do. Thanks!
hi hetal and anuja,
i used to dry in a different way,wash the leaves,and keep in a paper towel till the water is dried and then microwave for 2to 3 min,spreading the leaves .
Hi Annam,
Interesting method. We’ve never tried it, but doesn’t the heat cook the leaves?
Hey Hetal,
I have been using the same microwave technique for years.It has been very effective ,good and quick.The leaves do not get cooked .They just get crispy.
Hi Hetal,
Thats a nice tip. I have a question. Where did you get the curry leaf plant from? I stay in an apartment in the US. Is it possible for me to have a curry leaf plant in a pot? Please share some gardening tips too.
Lilly
A lot of larger Indian stores sell Curry Leaf plant or if you know someone who has one, you can get a sapling from them and replant it in a pot/planter.
A planter/pot works best for this plant because it can’t handle extreme cold…so if it is in a planter, it is easlier to bring into the house if it gets too cold.
Hope that helps!
Thanks anuja. At present i dont have any friends who have this plant or know of any indian stores that sell the plant. I’ll continue to hunt for one though. Do you know of any online websites from where i can get it?
Lilly…wwww.logees.com….Connecticut based nursery online sells it ! Good Luck 🙂
Thanks Meena for the info.
Lilly, here is the link:
http://www.logees.com/prodinfo.asp?number=R1443-2
Hope that helps!
fantastic
I have used curry leaves that were dried out in the sun on previous occasion, but they have no flavor. Do leaves dried in this manner retain their great flavor? I usually freeze my curry leaves – and while the color is usually not that great, the flavor is definitely retained.
The flavor is not as strong as fresh, but it’s still there. We have not tried to freeze them so are unable to compare the 2 methods.
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
Liked your tip for preserving curry leaves.
Question. After you have dried the leaves in the refrigerator for 4-5 days and then placed them inside a jar do you place the jar of preserved leaves in the refrigerator or leave the jar of preserved leaves outside the refrigerator ?
Thanks.
Jayshree Shelat-Bhatt
You can leave it on your pantry shelf.