Curry plant blooming in June
Recently I gave a presentation on Asian culinary herbs from a gardener’s perspective. The goal was to identify those Asian culinary herbs that we can grow in the mid-Atlantic area for the summer. Also, because some of the plants are difficult to find here, I provided seed and plant resources.
One of the herbs I talked about was the curry tree. There are actually two plants with curry in the name, one is a culinary herb, and one is an ornamental plant that performs well here in Virginia.
The culinary herb is curry tree or curry leaf (Murraya koenigii), a southeast Asian small tree maturing at 10 to 15 feet, hardy to zone 10. We are not likely to find this for sale in this area, but it can be ordered online and grown in the home as a small plant. It is easy to find the foliage in Asian supermarkets. The leaves are used fresh but if you have too many you can freeze them. Although the leaves are used in curry dishes, chutneys, and soups, they do not have a strong curry fragrance. Interestingly, I found a few recipes online for making bread with chopped up curry leaves. I bought a package for the presentation and now have a bag of leaves so I am going to experiment with the Murraya to see how I can use it in the kitchen. Although associated with Asian dishes, many of the herbs I talked about could be used in other cuisines or in other ways. The bread intrigues me so I will try that first.
Curry leaf
I explained in the presentation that there is another curry plant, an ornamental garden plant, called Helichrysum italicum. This plant has been in my garden for several years. Now in June it is about 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide and blooming. I love it because brushing against the shrub releases a lovely fragrance of curry spices, as if you were in an Indian restaurant. This plant is available at most nurseries in this area. It hails from Turkey and is a full sun, drought resistant, deer resistant, silvery shrub. I purposely bought it for a place in my garden that receives very little rain and is in a hot southern exposure area of my property. The plant is hardy to zone 7. So far, no animals or pests have bothered it. It is blooming little yellow flowers now, attracting beneficial insects. The flowers retain their shape and color, which make them ideal for dried flower arrangements and potpourris.
You can grow both: the Helichrysum outside and Murraya inside. But only cook with the Murraya!
Snow on curry plant
