My mate Tim has just started gardening. He is a resourceful man, so he’s not going to let a small matter like not actually having a garden stifle his ambitions. Along the windowsills of his little shared flat in Waterloo it’s like a mini Kew Gardens. There are ferns, creeping jasmine, even a 6ft banana tree – it’s frankly amazing. But now he wants to try his hand at indoor edibles and has asked for my advice. Four words, Tim: grow your own curry.
Unlike the dwarf varieties of Med-type veg normally recommended for edible houseplants, spices originate on the shady floor of tropical forests (like most of our favourite houseplants) and are adapted to cope far better with the less-than-optimal light of the average living room. Also, as only relatively tiny amounts are required to flavour a dish, you will always have on hand a ready supply of crops that are hard to find and expensive to buy. A cucumber plant Tim was eyeing up would cost 10 times the value of the food it produced – barely enough for a shared salad with his housemate David. You can do better, boys.
I love kaffir limes, whose leaves are used to impart a fresh, citrusy scent to southeast Asian curries and soups. These are sold for the same price as regular citrus and can be grown in exactly the same way, but will give you more leaves than you can ever use for life – not just a slice of fruit in an annual G&T.
Tiny bird chillies are probably the most resistant to low light of any variety, producing vast amounts of fire power in their mini fruit. Curry leaves (Murraya koenigii), sold through online nurseries, pack all the flavour of Malaysian and Sri Lankan curries into their foliage. Add a few to a shop-bought paste and be transported to an exotic holiday. These can be grown just like their close relative, citrus. Don’t confuse them with the curry plant (Helichrysum italicum) though, which smells of curry but doesn’t taste like it.
Lemongrass can be sprouted from supermarket sticks just by popping them in a glass of water and potting them on in gritty compost when rooted. They won’t produce many tender bases, but will kick out masses of fragrant leaves, which can be used to make incredible stocks and stews, with their fibrous fronds sieved out before serving. Thai basil makes a great houseplant that is just as easy as its Italian cousin on a sunny windowsill, but far harder to buy in grocery stores.
Red Asian shallots (find them in any Thai supermarket) were the first crop I grew. They offer up leafy shallot greens, much like chives, but with an altogether more aromatic, complex flavour. Add all this together and you have the beginning of a pretty epic curry. Tim, you reading?
Email James at james.wong@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @Botanygeek
