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Post by gakaren on Apr 25, 2015 10:00:27 GMT -5
Just wanted to give ya'al a heads up. A gal on another board who lives in Ohio was at a local nursery and saw this plant located with the herb plants. Since she thought curry was a mixture if several spices, she read the tag. It is NOT edible, it is only for the smell....she crushed a leaf and said it did smell like curry but was puzzled as to why it was located with the herbs! So BEWARE!
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Post by desertwoman on Apr 25, 2015 14:18:24 GMT -5
She's right. Curry IS a blend of various spices. That's scary to think they put that inedible curry plant with other herb plants.
Was it a big box store? There was a discussion on another thread here about how workers at the big boxes don't know anything about plants and are of little, if any, help.
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Post by davidjp on Apr 25, 2015 14:49:48 GMT -5
I'm sure that's a mistake but apparently it can be used for some Mediterranean dishes but I wouldn't have thought it would be that good. That's just according to Wikipedia though
I'm planning on getting a curry leaf plant at some point, its a citrus relative and the leaves are used for some dishes in I think mostly southern Indian cooking, they have quite a nice flavour to them.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 25, 2015 21:52:43 GMT -5
I have seen curry leaf plants labeled as curry plants, and visa-versa, so as you stated, beware! I have a curry leaf plant about 5 years old, and, like epazote, the aroma may be off-putting to some. It is hard to believe that it actually tastes good in so many things! Yet once you use them, the dishes won't be the same without them.
The plants are fairly easy to grow, though you will have to bring it in anytime it gets under 50°. The only thing I have had them come down with is scale, which I now watch closely for, though it only happened that one winter, indoors. Now I make sure that this and my kaffir lime plants are well trimmed, and give them a soaking with orange oil (with a few other spices added), to both the leaves and the soil, to make sure I am not bringing something in on them.
I have tried rooting cuttings, as well as starting from seeds, both of which produced plants, but they just didn't want to grow! The plants send out runners, which is the easiest way to propogate them. Or the runners can simply be left in the pot, starting another plant next to the first, if the pot is large enough.
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Post by davidjp on Apr 25, 2015 22:55:00 GMT -5
Interestingly the curry leaf plant is used a lot in research on Asian citrus psyllids which carry the citrus greening disease "huanglongbing". Its cost the Florida citrus industry upwards of $4 billion but is not here yet. I have a friend whos growing literally thousands a month to provide material to grow psyllids on which can then be used to grow the predatory wasps from Pakistan that they are releasing through California to try and reduce the psyllid population. Apparently its the best thing to grow the psyllids on.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 25, 2015 23:40:24 GMT -5
A friend in FL told me about this when I offered to send some curry leaves and lime leaves to her (I always have WAY too many when I trim them to come in), and she told me that it was illegal to send them into FL. Probably the same for CA.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Apr 26, 2015 5:39:13 GMT -5
What happens if this plant is eaten by mistake?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 26, 2015 9:44:11 GMT -5
It is not poisonous, and it is used occasionally in cooking, but I have never seen it called for in Indian cooking; it was probably something that the English started when they noticed how much it smells like curry powder - somebody probably figured it was easier than making up that mix of spices! It is also a medicinal plant, though I'm not sure what they do with it there.
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Post by gakaren on Apr 26, 2015 9:51:37 GMT -5
DW, no....NOT a big box store, it was at one of her local nurseries! And actually here in my area, we have long time employees at both Lowes & Walmart in the garden sections and they know as much or more than the employees at our local nursery. I've had to tell a few employees at the nursery what things were and how they grew....they hire just anyone also!
Pea, I don't know...might want to look up the botanical name and what, if any, effects it could/would have.
I just wanted to make everyone aware that some things aren't as they seem even in nurseries!
One thing that bothers me VERY much is the labeling of both Datura & Brugmansia as "Angel Trumpets"! They are in the same family but are entirely different plants with different leaves, different seed containers and several other differences. Datura, aka jimson weed/loco weed, is VERY toxic. A few years back a high school gal spent about a week in the hospital from ingesting just 2 (TWO) seeds. Datura seeds are in round, spiney pods. Brug seeds (if any appear-not often) are in long, skinny pods like a green bean. Datura is also more night blooming while brugs bloom in the day time....datura blooms tend to point up or at least out while brugs hang down.
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Post by davidjp on Apr 26, 2015 9:59:46 GMT -5
I have seen it in quite a few herb gardens, certainly in the UK. Its drought tolerant and has that silver grey foliage look and so can look good in a mixed herb garden. I suspect its often included just for looks and also I think people like having stuff that when you crush has some interesting flavours. I quite often crush a few things to smell when walking round herb gardens of stately homes or botanical gardens, theres some interesting varieties of thyme with different fragrances as well as lavender.
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Post by OregonRed on Apr 26, 2015 10:27:17 GMT -5
I could swear I saw a recipe or two here and there with curry leaves as an ingredient - I also remember it saying to use bay leaf if you didn't have any. and I seem to recall it was an indian dish... can I get any vague er?
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Post by davidjp on Apr 26, 2015 11:00:33 GMT -5
There is some confusion between the two plants but really they are very different. Curry leaf is a small tree that has bipinnate leaves and is in the citrus family. Curry plant is a small plant native to the Mediterranean that has grey silver foliage and has a strong vaguely curry like smell to it. The curry leaf is from India and is used a lot in I think primarily southern Indian cooking, makes sense as its a subtropical plant and won't take much if any freeze. Curry leaf tree en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry_treeCurry plant en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helichrysum_italicum
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 26, 2015 22:09:11 GMT -5
Red,
I have seen things in some books/magazines saying to use bay leaves if you don't have curry leaves. However, the flavor is not remotely similar, so I always assume that these authors have never teasted those recipes! Some will tell you that if they are not available, leave them out, while some will tell you to simply go to another recipe, which tells me that they have cooked these dishes, and know what will be missing. It reminds me of the lime leaves in Thai dishes.
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Post by OregonRed on Apr 26, 2015 23:33:17 GMT -5
pepper, ah yes, I understand.
thank you david, gottit
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