These come from the same trees as the quills. The leaves are picked, then dried in the shade rather than the sun, which keeps both the colour and the oil that direct sun would drive off.
In Sri Lankan cooking they go into the pot whole at the start and come out before serving, exactly as a bay leaf does. The flavour is not the same as bay. It is warmer and distinctly clove-like, closer to allspice, and it smells more like the tree than the bark does.
Almost nobody outside Sri Lanka cooks with these, which is a genuine loss. One leaf changes a pot of plain rice completely, and two will carry a whole curry.
If you already own our cinnamon quills, this is the interesting thing to add to your next order.
