Indian bay leaf or laurel? Two leaves, not one tree

Indian bay leaf and European bay laurel come from two different trees. Laurel is the leaf of the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis); the leaf Indian cooking calls bay leaf is cassia (Cinnamomum tamala). Only the names overlap. One is sweet, the other is clean — the two aromas sit at opposite ends.

In English, bay leaf means the laurel

The confusion starts with the word itself. A bay leaf is, properly, a leaf of the bay laurel. Everything on a Japanese supermarket shelf labelled rōrie, laurel or gekkeiju is this leaf.

But the bay leaf in an Indian recipe is a different leaf entirely: tej patta in Hindi, the leaf of the cassia tree. Cassia is the bark that belongs to the cinnamon family, and this is the leaf taken from that same tree.

Both sit in the laurel family. They belong to different genera, though — different plants. Japanese recipes sometimes print the two names as interchangeable, but read an Indian recipe that way and the aroma you were aiming for never arrives.

Tell them apart by the veins

You can do it with dried leaves. Look at the veins.

Indian bay leaf carries three veins running straight down the length of the leaf, which is large and elongated. Laurel branches out feather-fashion from a single central vein; the leaf is a size smaller, and its edge waves gently. Set them side by side and there is no doubt.

Opposite aromas

Indian bay leaf is a sweet leaf. Warm, running towards cinnamon and cassia — the sweetness of the bark drawn out thin, unfolding slowly inside a long braise.

Laurel is a clean leaf: resin, herb, a trace of flower. On its own it can read almost medicinal. Put it in the pot, though, and the medicinal note disappears and only the outline of the whole dish remains. It is a spice that never insists on itself.

Fresh laurel leaves carry a bitterness, and drying turns it into a citrus-clean aroma. Laurel is sold dried not only for keeping. Dried is simply the aroma that suits cooking.

What changes if you swap them

You can substitute. You will not get the same dish.

Make a biryani or a lentil braise with laurel and the sweet layer drops away, leaving only the clean lift. Make a pot-au-feu or a meat sauce with Indian bay leaf and a sweetness arrives that blurs the European outline.

Handling is the same for both. Both aromas dissolve in fat, so warm the leaf in oil first, then add everything else. And in a long braise, lift the leaf out partway. Past two hours, bitterness comes forward ahead of aroma.

Inspice puts both leaves in the same blend

Spice Curry Symphony No.3 contains both — not a mix-up, not loose naming, but a deliberate pairing of two leaves with opposite characters.

Their forms differ too. The Indian bay leaf goes in whole, in the starter-spice sachet that meets the oil first. The laurel is ground, in the powder sachet. Attack and finish, split between two leaves. They stand on separate lines of the ingredient list as well.

Laurel earns its place through its strength as a connector. It holds no aroma compound of its own; everything it carries, it shares with other spices — and it shares with an unusually large number of them. A leaf that can stand beside anyone will not muddy a sweet neighbour. No.3 uses no chilli and carries no spice whose job is heat. That is exactly why the design of the leaves comes through in the aroma.

There is more on each of them on the Indian bay leaf and laurel pages.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Are Indian bay leaf and laurel the same thing?
A. No. Laurel is the leaf of the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis); the leaf Indian cooking calls bay leaf is cassia (Cinnamomum tamala). They share the laurel family but belong to different genera, and their aromas — sweet against clean — sit at opposite ends.

Q. Can I use Indian bay leaf in place of laurel?
A. You can, but the result changes. Indian bay leaf carries a sweetness running towards cinnamon, so in a pot-au-feu or a meat sauce it blurs the European outline. The other way round, a biryani or an Indian braise made with laurel loses its sweet layer and keeps only the clean lift.

Q. Should I take the leaf out of a braise?
A. Yes. Both leaves turn bitter under long heat. In a braise running past two hours, lift the leaf out partway; even in a short one, removing it before serving gives a cleaner mouthful.