Indian Bay Leaves

Morning Glory

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I've been shopping for spices in local Indian shops for decades and I've often see these large packets of dried bay leaves. But I always ignored them - after all, fresh bay leaves are so much better and I have some in the garden. What I failed to realise is these are not bay leaves as we know them in the West.

I learned this recently from a Rick Stein TV show (Rick Stein's India) in which he was cooking in India and used them - mentioning that they tasted nothing like the bay leaves we normally used. So - I bought a pack to see. What a revelation! They have a fantastic aroma - of cloves and cinnamon plus something I can't define - not really like laurel bay leaves at all. Apparently they are also known as Cassia, Tejpaat or Malabar leaves.

They also look very different - Indian bay leaves are really large (about 3 times as big as Laurel Bay) and have three veins running down the length of the leaf which is quite distinctive.

If you haven't tried them and can get some then I urge you to try. Fantastic in curries (just break up the leaves a bit and leave as they are or dry fry and grind with other spices). I'm sure they could be used in lots of other dishes too.

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A friend gave me a branch of bay leaves before Xmas, it's drying in the garage, there's enough to last my lifetime. I've never looked at what it is, I just assumed its Indian bay leave. I use cassia bark in my curries so I don't think I'm missing out on the right tastes, but I'm curious now. Along with curry leaves. More homework,lol.

Russ
 
I have a bay in a pot in my back yard. Mainly used for squid stew which I usually make over Christmas and new year but didn't due to flu. I have squid in the freezer waiting.
 
A friend gave me a branch of bay leaves before Xmas, it's drying in the garage, there's enough to last my lifetime. I've never looked at what it is, I just assumed its Indian bay leave. I use cassia bark in my curries so I don't think I'm missing out on the right tastes, but I'm curious now. Along with curry leaves. More homework,lol.

Russ

Its easy to see if the bay leaves you have in the garage are the Indian type: they will have 3 veins running the length of the leaves. The one most of us are used to in the West has one central vein like the first photo:

Western type:

bay-leaf_a86626d4-ba4a-4ced-8120-6a970e67e783_grande.jpeg

Indian Bay:

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I have a bay in a pot in my back yard. Mainly used for squid stew which I usually make over Christmas and new year but didn't due to flu. I have squid in the freezer waiting.

Slow cooked squid - lovely - but I'm assuming you have a laurel bay not Indian. I use laurel bay in all sorts of dishes. I'm not sure if Indian bay can grow in this country.
 
Wow, they do make a difference. I made a simple daal today with bay and garlic cooked with the lentils and added a tomato takah. Very tasty and the bay did make a difference to the depth of flavour. Served with cauliflower flatbread.

Thank you @morning glory
 
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