How to store kadi patta for long time: fridge, freezer and drying

Moisture is the main enemy of stored curry leaves: a bunch left in its shop bag can turn black and slimy within a couple of days. Every method below is a way of keeping the leaves dry, dark, cool and sealed. The fridge holds fresh leaves for two to three weeks in a paper-lined box, the freezer holds them for a few months, and dried leaves in an airtight jar keep the longest of all. For the full drying route, the steps end in a powder on curry leaves powder how to make.

Pick one method and use it the day you buy the bunch; a wilted bunch will not recover in storage. If you cook with curry leaves most days, fridge. If the bunch is bigger than the week's tadkas, freeze half and dry the rest, and the cooking side of the leaf lives at the curry leaves hub.

The fridge method keeps fresh leaves crisp for two to three weeks, and the whole trick is dryness. Do not wash the bunch first: water trapped in the leaf folds is exactly what turns leaves black in the fridge. Pluck the leaves from the stems, or keep the sprigs whole, and drop only perfect leaves, discarding any that are yellow or spotted.

Line an airtight box with kitchen paper, spread the leaves in a loose single layer, lay another sheet of paper on top, close the lid and put the box in the fridge drawer. The paper soaks up the stray moisture the leaves breathe out. A zip bag works too: press the air out before sealing. Check the box every few days and pick out any leaf that has started to blacken, so one bad leaf does not spot its neighbours.

Freezing keeps leaves for a few months and suits a big bunch. This time, do wash and dry them first: the freezer turns any leftover water into ice that welds the leaves together. Rinse the leaves, shake them, and spread them on a cloth until fully dry, then spread them in a single layer in a box or on a tray until they are firm, an hour or two, and only then pack them into a zip bag with the air pressed out. Freezing them loose like this means you can take out one sprig at a time instead of chipping at a block.

Curry leaves go straight from freezer to hot oil: no thawing, the tadka does it. Frozen leaves soften and darken as they cook, so they suit dal, sambar and curries better than garnishes; for a fresh-looking finish, keep a small bunch in the fridge and the rest frozen.

Drying is the no-fridge answer and the longest keeper. Wash the leaves, dry them completely on a cloth, then spread them in a single layer on a clean, dry cloth in a shaded, airy spot, and leave them for a few days until a leaf pressed between your fingers crumbles to pieces. Shade, not sun: sun-drying can fade the leaf and dull its aroma. Turn the leaves once a day so both sides dry evenly.

The brittle leaves then go into a clean, dry glass jar, closed tight, in a cool, dry place away from moisture and direct sunlight; stored this way they keep for several months. That is also the storage advice COWBERRY prints for its dried curry leaves, which need no refrigeration. Dried leaves go straight into hot oil like fresh ones, and they are the starting point of curry leaves powder, where the same dried leaf is roasted and ground. IFCT 2017's figures describe the fresh leaf, at 64 kcal per 100 g; drying simply takes the leaf's water out of the jar, leaving the leaf to keep.

• Washing the bunch before refrigerating it. The trapped water turns the leaves black and slimy within days. Keep the fridge bunch unwashed, and wash only what you cook.
• Leaving the leaves in the shop's plastic bag. The bag sweats, and the leaves rot. Move them into a paper-lined box or an air-pressed zip bag the day you buy them.
• Freezing the bunch as one lump. You cannot take out one sprig, and the rest thaw and refreeze every time. Freeze the leaves loose, then bag them.
• Sun-drying. Direct sun can bleach the leaf and dull its aroma. Drying in shade is slower but safer for the colour.
• A wet spoon in the dried jar. Moisture can cake the leaves and start mould. Spoon them out dry, and if the jar ever smells musty, throw the batch out and start again.

The keeping times below are kitchen estimates for a fresh herb, not printed food-safety figures; the signs to go by are your own eyes and nose.

One more habit sits behind the whole table: start with the leaves you stored first. The tadka does not mind a slightly faded leaf, so a fading fridge bunch goes into the pan, not the bin.

Cook with it: try Lemon rice.

How to store kadi patta for long time?

Dry the leaves and keep them in an airtight jar in a cool, dry place away from moisture and direct sunlight, where they last several months. For fresh leaves, the freezer holds them a few months; the fridge, two to three weeks in a paper-lined box.

How to store kadi patta?

In the fridge, unwashed, in a paper-lined airtight box, where fresh leaves keep two to three weeks. Any longer, freeze the leaves loose in a zip bag, or dry them in shade until brittle and jar them airtight. Keep the jar dry, and use a dry spoon.

How to store kadi patta in fridge?

Do not wash the bunch. Line an airtight box with kitchen paper, spread the leaves loosely on it, cover with another sheet of paper and close the lid, then keep the box in the fridge drawer. They stay fresh two to three weeks; pick out any leaf that blackens.

How to store kadi patta in freezer?

Wash and fully dry the leaves, spread them in a single layer until firm, then pack them in a zip bag with the air pressed out. They keep a few months and go straight from freezer to hot oil, no thawing, one sprig at a time.

How to store kadi patta without fridge?

Wash and dry the leaves, spread them on a clean cloth in a shaded, airy spot until brittle, then keep them in an airtight jar in a cool, dry place, where they last several months. Dried leaves fry straight into the tadka like fresh ones.

How to store kadi patta at home?

Match the method to the clock: fridge for leaves you will finish in two to three weeks, freezer for the rest of a big bunch, and shade-drying for the longest keeping in an airtight jar. Whatever the method, the leaves go in dry and sealed.