Degchi
Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Also written: dried fenugreek leaves, kasoori methi, sukhi methi
- Urduکسوری میتھی
- Hindiकसूरी मेथी
- Banglaকসুরি মেথি
Kasuri methi is fenugreek leaf that has been dried and sold in small packets of pale green flakes. It smells savoury and a little bitter, and it is what many people mean when they say a gravy tastes like a restaurant's.
In our library it is a finishing touch rather than a cooking spice. The Butter Chicken page suggests a pinch of crushed kasuri methi rubbed in at the end for the classic restaurant aroma, and Paneer Butter Masala gives the same tip as a way to lift a lighter, milk-based version.
Rub the leaves between your palms over the pot so they crumble and release their smell, then stir them in during the last minute. The fragrance is in the leaf oils, and a long simmer cooks most of it away. A pinch is enough, because too much turns a creamy gravy bitter.
Keep the packet closed. Dried leaves that have lost their colour and smell of almost nothing will not do much, so replace them. This is a different ingredient from fenugreek seeds (methi dana), which are small and hard and go into oil at the start.