Curry Leaf Trees in Winter

I had friends over for dinner last night.  It was a last minute thing so fortunately they weren’t expecting much.  I burnt the beans and cauliflower, only just cooked the chicken and the sauce for the fish tasted bitter.  Not exactly ideal……

The first things were carelessness but I’m wondering if the last was the curry leaves in the curry sauce I made for the fish.

In Melbourne curry leaf trees look particularly sad at this time of year.  Being a tropical climate plant they simply don’t like Melbourne’s colder months and do everything they can to remind people of that.  Their leaves turn yellow and in the coldest climates fall off.

I’m wondering if they also turn bitter.

Of course the bitterness may have just as easily been the old (and starting to sprout) garlic or over cooked black mustard seeds so I probably shouldn’t really blame my poor sad curry tree.  Instead I should be doing my best to protect in and nurture it through to Spring when those beautifully fragrant leaves that should reappear sometime between September and November.