What dish defines how Londoners are eating now? We asked leaders in the city’s food scene to share a recipe that says “London” to them.
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An ingredient that we love and we feel represents London right now is curry leaves—especially fried curry leaves. We first tasted them at HIX Oyster & Chop House on top of mutton chop curry. We had one bite and have since been hooked.
You can also find fried curry leaves in some of London’s best curry houses, like Gymkhana and Hoppers. The Indian food here in London is exciting in that it is modern and yet has a deep-rooted history of spice and flavor. Though we are not Indian, we do use a lot of spices in our cooking. Curry leaves is one of our firm favorites.
The oils from this leaf add an incredibly aromatic, fenugreek sweetness with a hint of citrus to your dish. Deep frying the leaves turns them into these lovely fragrant curry crisps—they become almost like a seasoning of curry spice. We use them a lot on top of our fritters, like the Spring Vegetable Fritters, Cucumber Yogurt & Curry Leaves from our book, Ducksoup.
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We also do a dish in the summer of fresh peas, pea shoots, green onions, labneh, and fried curry leaves: Simply fry the green onion gently and quickly blanch the peas, then combine onions, peas, and pea shoots, spoon some labneh over them, sprinkle with your fried curry leaves and a little of the oil you cooked them in, and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Frying at home can put some people off, but these are really just shallow fried, so nothing to worry about. You can buy curry leaves from good Asian grocers or online, although fresh curry leaves may not be available all year round. However, they will keep very nicely in the freezer.
Though frying is our favorite, you can do plenty more with curry leaves; don’t be afraid to add them to any dish where you’re using spices because they will naturally enhance the dish, and don’t forget to pour that delicious infused oil you’ve cooked them in over the top too.
To see the rest of our Food52 Goes to London guide, head here.
