It was my birthday during the week and I was thrilled to receive a few growing gifts.
First up was a True Curry Leaf tree Murraya Koenigii.
This is it on the left (or is it the middle?). It looks a little sickly from the winter’s cold, but should perk up again in Spring. I’m keeping it on a sunny windowsill until Spring, when I’ll pot it up and take it outside. I’ve crushed a leaf or two to get an idea of the flavour, but it smells terrible – is that normal?
Also in the curry theme is the curry plant. That’s the little one in the picture above. Its leaves are aromatic and (unlike the curry leaf tree) smell just like a curry.
And even more exciting is the peppermint plant that the kids bought me.
It came with a lovely self-watering pot with a built in water level indicator. I’ve potted it up and I’ll wait until I start getting new growth before I harvest some for a cup of tea. I was always running out of peppermint tea, so it will be wonderful to always have a ready supply, fresh from the garden.
500m2 in Sydney 
I think curry leaf can be a bit of an acquired taste, so I wouldn’t dismiss it if you don’t enjoy it first time round. I like the smell I have to say and do think it is a bit like the flavour – but you usually combine it with other spices and that mellows it out a bit.
I enjoy almost all Indian food so I figured that it would taste good in the right context. Lets just hope I can figure out how to balance the flavours correctly!
I think the Indian episode of Food Safari had at least one recipe with curry leaf. You might be able to find a video/recipe on the SBS website.
Very nice gifts – happy birthday! Gifts that will go on giving you joy and food.
Happy Birthday!
Thank you!