Curry Leaf Oven Roasted Carrot Recipe
This soft, caramelized, fragrantly spiced oven roasted carrot recipe is topped with a crispy, zippy, punch-you-in-the-mouth-with-flavor bread crumb topping. Aside- is punch-you-in-the-mouth-with-flavor a positive descriptor to you? It is to me, but just in case you didn’t feel that way, let me say this dish is delicious and extremely flavorful. Highlighting curry leaves in both the carrots and the topping, you won’t have trouble getting your vegetables down with this one! These roasted carrots will steal the show.
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Cooking with Fresh Curry Leaves
I started using fresh curry leaves a couple years ago in my Indian dishes, and the quality of those dishes has totally leveled up because of them. They’re not the same as curry powder (which is an spice blend), but are an herb totally independent and totally delicious. Throw some curry leaves in hot oil, and the smell that fills your kitchen will have your living companions popping in to see what’s cooking. There’s not a great way to describe exactly what curry leaves smell like, but chances are when you get them, you’ll find the smell familiar from eating at an Indian restaurant. My favorite use of curry leaves is by frying it lightly in oil, and adding that oil to whatever dish I am making (a technique called tadka, which you can read more about here). If you have an Indian grocery store nearby, curry leaves should be fairly easy to locate- sometimes I can even spot them at my everyday grocery store. If that’s not an option for you, they can be purchased online. They ship really well and are quite light, so you won’t be paying huge amounts of money either- in the past I’ve gotten some on Etsy!
Would you all be interested in more curry leaf recipes in the future? I have a few ideas knocking around in my head!
Looking for Carrot Recipes? Try one of these!
- Vegan Korean Corn Dogs from Carrots
- Carrot Tops Tabbouleh with Kamut
- Roasted Carrot, Garlic and Rosemary Soup
- Mandarin Orange, Carrot and Turmeric Soup
How to Make this Oven Roasted Carrot Recipe
This stunning little side dish has two main components- the carrots, and the breadcrumb topping. I used purple and orange carrots here, because it’s what I had but also because I think the multi-colored carrots together just add to the beauty. You can use whatever carrots you have, but try to make sure they are roughly the same size. You can help that out a little when you cut them, cutting them in half or quarters so they are all roughly the same thickness. Some of the thinnest ones I left whole. Toss the carrots with curry leaves, garam masala, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast until tender on the inside and somewhat caramelized on the outside.
The breadcrumb topping is made with panko breadcrumbs, pistachios (or pepitas, both are great!), curry leaves, lemon, salt, and olive oil. Honestly this stuff is so good I would make it and just eat it straight. Add the pistachios, curry leaves, and lemon zest into a small food processor or spice grinder, and get it to a texture similar to your breadcrumbs. After that, we’re going to toast it all up until crispy and crunchy. I only added half the lemon juice, but if you taste yours and want a bit more zip, feel free to add the second half of the juiced lemon.
It all comes together on a serving plate- carrots first, breadcrumbs on top. The curry leaves are totally edible (and delicious), so no need to fish them out. I like to serve these with a hearty bean salad, or a few of my favorite Indian dishes. Enjoy!
Curry Leaf Oven Roasted Carrot Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb. carrots, cleaned with the ends trimmed
- 25 curry leaves, divided
- 1 tsp. garam masala
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup pistachios (you can use pepitas, for nut-free)
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat and set aside.
- Cut the carrots in halves or quarters, so they’re all the same thickness. Combine the carrots with 15 curry leaves, sprinkle with garam masala, salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp. olive oil. Toss well to coat, and then lay the carrots in a single layer on the baking sheet. Cook for about 20 minutes, remove from the oven and flip, and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
- While the carrots are roasting, prepare your topping. Combine the pistachios, remaining 10 curry leaves, and the zest of one lemon in a small food processor or spice grinder, and blitz until a course mixture. Heat the remaining olive oil in a small skillet, and add the pistachio mixture, along with the breadcrumbs, ¼ tsp. salt, and the juice of ½ the lemon. Toast, stirring often, until the mixture begins to tan and smell delicious. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Once the carrots are tender and the outsides somewhat caramelized, take them out and lay them on a platter. Top with the curry leaf breadcrumb topping and serve.
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