How to store fresh curry leaves
Curry leaves are widely used in many Indian dishes, they impart a unique aromatic flavour to the dish. They are used both in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes in South Asia.
Curry leaves are one among the essential ingredients of an Indian kitchen.
However, in eastern, western and northern parts of the world, it’s difficult to find curry leaves in every supermarket as it’s an imported product from India, thus confining its availability to only fewer supermarkets that sell Indian products. Because of this, people use storage methods to increase shelf life of curry leaves.
Curry leaves are rich in carbohydrates, fibre, calcium, phosphorous, iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin E. They also help in healthy functioning of the heart.
As dried curry leaves lose some of their nutrition due to heat, here’s is a simple method to store your curry leaves fresh without drying them completely, thus keeping its freshness locked for longer period of time.
Vegetarian dishes like khadi daal, khatti daal, bagaara daalcha, mitthi bhendi or non-veg dishes like Bottleguard mutton curry, chicken 65 and many more such dishes use curry leaves as an important condiment.
Ingredients
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- Separate the fresh curry leaves from the branches. Take only the fresh leaves, discard the withered leaves.
- Wash the fresh leaves with water three times to remove all the impurities.
- Drain the water completely by using a colander or sieve.
- Now spread the washed curry leaves on a clean dry cloth. Allow it to air dry naturally at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
- When the curry leaves are dry completely store them in an airtight container and place it in the refrigerator. That's it, now you can use them in all your favourite dishes.
- If you want to retain the fresh green colour, then do not dry them under direct sunlight.
- This method enhances the shelf life of fresh curry leaves upto 1 month.