Tag Archives: Curry tree

Curry Leaf House Plant

The leaves of Murraya koenigii (Curry tree or curry leaf plant) are commonly used in curries and in chutneys in India. Although it’s a small tropical tree (<6m), I would encourage even arctic gardeners to try to get hold of a plant (not currently available in the UK RHS Plant Finder) or seeds (try ebay). I’m pretty sure it could be propagated by suckers too! My experience is that it’s easy to grow as a house plant, which can be cut down to the soil as a young tree and resprout from the base repeatedly.  I was given one in 2003 and I still had it in 2013, although it eventually died for an uknown reason. It even managed to flower but, although self-pollinating, I didn’t get any of the edible aromatic seeds! I still have a jar of home-grown dried leaves which can be powdered and sprinkled on vegetables and yoghurt.
I also had a Murraya paniculata (Jasmine orange) which is used for a similar purpose but it became infested with thrips I think and I had to throw it out before I could try it. 
There are at least 8 species in the genus Murraya which is in the Rutaceae as are citrus fruits!