Kadi patta
Curry leaf, a glossy aromatic leaf popped in oil at the start of South Indian dishes.
Also: curry leaf, karuveppilai, karibevu, kari patta
Kadi patta is the leaf of Murraya koenigii, a small tree of the citrus family native to India and Sri Lanka. Fresh leaves smell of citrus, anise and a faint toasty, nutty note when fried in hot oil, and that fragrance opens many south Indian dishes: dosa chutneys, sambar, thoran, coconut rice. The leaf is edible but usually left at the side of the plate. It is not the source of curry powder, despite the name, which came from the Tamil word kari for sauce. Dried leaves have almost no flavour, so cooks buy fresh stems and freeze them when possible.