What to use instead of curry leaves
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Fried in hot oil at the start of a tempering
The leaf gives up its oils the second it hits hot fat, crackling for about five seconds, and that oil carries the aroma through the whole pot of dal or chutney.
Dried curry leavesRan out
2 dried leaves per 1 fresh, added with the seeds so they have time to soften
A fraction of the aroma and no crackle. The leaves stay papery in the finished dish and most people leave them on the plate.
Makrut lime leaves, tornRan out
2 torn leaves per 10 curry leaves
Citrus and floral where curry leaf is nutty and resinous. The dal starts tasting Thai, which is pleasant and clearly not the same dish.
Fresh bay leaf plus lime zestRan out
1 bay leaf + 1/4 tsp lime zest per 10 curry leaves
Fills the aromatic slot with a leafy savour and a citrus edge. It is the shape of the flavour without the flavour.
What doesn't work: Curry powder. It shares nothing with the leaf beyond the word: it is ground coriander, turmeric and cumin, and a spoonful in a tempering makes dal taste of a curry house while the gap where the leaf should be is still there.
Aromatic leaf simmered into a coconut curry
Over a long simmer the leaves put a savoury citrus-resin note underneath the coconut, which is the background you notice only when it is missing.
Dried curry leavesRan out
3 dried per 1 fresh, added at the start
Weaker by a long way even at three times the count, and the flavour fades further over a 30-minute simmer.
Makrut lime leavesRan out
1 leaf per 6 curry leaves, centre stem stripped out
Sharper citrus that carries further and lasts longer in the pot. The curry ends up closer to a Thai one.
Fresh bay leafRan out
1 leaf per 8 curry leaves
Leafy and faintly medicinal. It gives the gravy a background without any of the citrus, so add lime juice at the end.
What doesn't work: Making up the gap with extra garam masala. Garam masala is warm and sweet and drags the curry north; what curry leaves leave behind is savoury and green, and no ground spice fills it.
Nothing tastes like curry leaf. Fresh leaves freeze on the stem for months, which is the actual fix: buy a big bunch and freeze what you do not use.