Everything You Need to Know About Curry Leaves
Curry leaves are a classic in South Asian dishes, especially in India and Sri Lanka. They are a popular ingredient in many South Asian cuisines like soups, dahl, and curry. They have an exceptional and dominant flavour that would help the dishes to have a characteristic and robust taste. Curry leaves are aromatic herbs. They are also called “sweet neem leaves,” and they grow on the curry tress. Curry leaves constitute the citrus family. They have a distinct lemon scent and gives a spicy taste upon eating.
It is important to note that curry leaves are not as same as curry powder. They are often regarded as a popular spice mixture and contribute as an ingredient for dahl and curry dishes. You can get curry leaves online and add a sweet aroma and distinct taste to your dishes.
Benefits of Curry Leaves
There are many versatile options for using curry leaves in your dishes. However, they also offer plenty of benefits. Curry leaves are essential to your health and well-being. Here are some of the services provided by curry leaves:
- They are rich in plant compounds: Curry leaves contain alkaloids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, linalool, alpha-terpinene, myrcene, mahanimbine, caryophyllene, murrayanol, and alpha-pinene. These compounds act as antioxidants inside the body, keeping it healthy and free from diseases. Antioxidants are essential for eradicating harmful compounds from the body and reducing oxidative stress.
- They help fight cancer: Many studies show that curry leaves help prevent breast cancer, tumor growth, and lung cancer. Curry leaves contain powerful antioxidants like quercetin, catechin, rutin, and gallic acid that contribute to its anticancer effects.
- They protect your neurological health: Some relevant researches show that curry leaves are useful in protecting your nervous system, including your brain. One of the severe neurological disorders is Alzheimer’s disease, caused by the characteristic loss of neurons and oxidative stress. Due to antioxidants’ presence in curry leaves, they help reduce oxidative stress within the brain cells. However, this is still ongoing research, and there is always room for firm conclusions.
- They reduce the risk of heart ailment: The accumulation of triglycerides and high cholesterol increases heart diseases. Therefore, it is essential to add some curry leaves to your diet. It will help you reduce some of these risk factors. The results of this benefit have been linked with the presence of an alkaloid called mahanimbine in the curry leaves. The researches, however, have been mostly on animal and have shown promising results. There is still some room for research in humans to determine the exact benefits of consuming curry leaves concerning heart ailments.
- They control your sugar levels: Many types of research on animals have found that curry leaves help you maintain your sugar level, explicitly reducing high blood sugar levels, nerve and kidney damage. This helps in fighting diabetes.
- They have anti-inflammatory properties: Many kinds of research on animals show that curry leaves have anti-inflammatory compounds that can help reduce inflammation-related genes in the body.
- They can help you relieve the pain: Curry leaves, when ingested orally, are known to reduce any pain you might be experiencing.
- They have antibacterial properties: A test-tube study implemented that curry leaves can reduce the growth of harmful bacteria like Corynebacterium tuberculosis and Streptococcus pyogenes.
Adding Curry Leaves to Your Everyday Diet
They are easy to add to your everyday diet. Curry leaves are trendy in Indian cuisines and are added to their dishes for a long time. Curry leaves provide a hint of pungent taste in the dishes. They add a rich flavour to the cuisines. There are many health benefits of curry leaves. It is only justifiable to add it to your daily diet. There are many ways to do that.
Here are some ways to add curry leaves to your diet:
- You can add curry leaves in chutneys and sauces to enrich their flavours.
- Curry leaves are a great way to spruce up your soups.
- Are you baking some bread? Why not throw some chopped curry leaves into the savory to add some taste?
- You can also dip some curry leaves in some cooking oil and use it as a topping for many dishes.
- You can create a fantastic seasonal blending by combining some curry leaves with other spices like cumin seeds, red chilli, and turmeric.
- You can include some sauté curry leaves in ghee and then boil it at a high temperature. Afterwards, use the product for any dish you want.
- Include some curry leaves on a sweet dish to get that conflicting sweet and pungent flavour.
Final Take
Is there any excuse needed to buy some curry leaves for your dishes? The bottom line is that they provide taste as well as health benefits. What more could you want? They are versatile enough to be used in any recipe. So, go and fetch yourself some of these and treat your taste buds!