Lifestyles Ideas Management - Scented Leaves

The southern Indians must have their curry leaves, the Chinese spring their onions, but it is in Malay, Indonesian and Thai cooking that we experience the pleasures of a wide spectrum of scented leaves. The use of the right herbs is imperative if you want authentic tastes. Trouble is you need only a little each time which means you end up with left-overs and herbs do not keep well. Addressing myself to these problems, I spent a good while finding out how to preserve herbs. One of the best ways to prolong the life of herbs is to wrap them up in paper towels and store the bundles in air-tight plastic containers at the bottom of the refrigerator. The herbs keep well this way for up to three weeks. You can also use those wonder bags newly developed by the Japanese. Made of green plastic with very fine ground stone embedded in their sides, these bags allow ethylene gas to escape. This is the gas that vegetable matter naturally exudes which accelerates ripening and then rotting. Herbs stored in these special bags can keep almost garden fresh for a fortnight or more. You can buy these bags at many supermarkets.
A neat way to store curry leaves is to pluck the leaves from the stalks and set these in a bowl of melted ghee. You just use the herb ghee to fry your curry spices as usual. By Margaret Chan