Bay Leaf

What Bay Leaf is

A large, dried aromatic leaf dropped whole into biryani and slow-cooked curries as they start, then left in the pot for the whole cook. The Indian bay leaf sold for this purpose is a different plant from the Mediterranean bay leaf used in Western cooking.

Most bay leaf sold in South Asian grocery shops as tej patta comes from Cinnamomum tamala, a relative of cinnamon, not from Laurus nobilis, the Mediterranean laurel bay leaf found in Western supermarkets. The two look similar dried but come from unrelated trees.

Taste profile

Tej patta carries a warm, cinnamon-and-clove-like aroma with almost none of the sharp, menthol-like bitterness of Mediterranean bay leaf. It is added whole at the start of cooking to perfume the whole pot, and is never meant to be eaten or ground into a dish.

Forms to buy

• Whole dried leaf — The only common form; always removed before serving.

Halal note

Bay leaf carries no halal concern in any form; it is a plain dried leaf with no processing beyond drying.

Dishes that use it

• Chicken Biryani — Rice and marinated chicken layered raw, then sealed and steamed together.
• Mutton Biryani — The same method as chicken biryani, but the meat sets the timing.
• Lamb Curry — Bone-in lamb cooked slowly until the sauce thickens around it.

Cuisines

• Indian — Not one cuisine but a continent's worth, unified by how spices are handled rather than by what is cooked.
• Nepali — Lighter, sourer and less oily than its neighbours, built around a tray of rice, lentils and greens.
• South Indian — Rice, lentils and fermentation — a lighter, sourer tradition with almost no relation to a North Indian menu.

Other spices

• Turmeric
• Cumin
• Coriander Seed
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon
• Cloves