''Cinnamomum tamala'', Indian bay leaf'','' also known as tejpat'', ''tejapatta'','' Malabar leaf, Indian bark, Indian cassia, or malabathrum, is a tree in the family

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...

that is native to northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(

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and the

Western Himalayas The Western Himalayas are the western half of the Himalayas, in northwestern India and northern Pakistan. Four of the five tributaries of the Indus River in Punjab ( Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, and Ravi) rise in the Western Himalayas; while the fi ...

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, and southwestern

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. It can grow up to tall. Its leaves have a clove-like aroma with a hint of peppery taste; they are used for culinary and medicinal purposes. It is thought to have been one of the major sources of the medicinal plant leaves known in classic and medieval times as malabathrum (or malobathrum).

Characteristics

The leaves, known as ''tējapattā'' or ''tejpattā'' ( तेजपत्ता) in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, ''tejpāt'' (तेजपात/তেজপাত) in Nepali, Maithili and Assamese, ''tejpātā'' ( তেজপাতা) in Bengali, ''vazhanayila/edanayila'' ( വഴനയില/എടനഇല) in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, ''kaḍu dhālchini'' ( :kn:ಕಾಡು ದಾಲ್ಚಿನ್ನಿ) in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

, and ''tamalpatra'' (તમલપત્ર) in Gujarati, or ''tamālpatra'' (तमालपत्र) in Marathi and in original

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, are used extensively in the cuisines of

, and

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

, particularly in the

Mughlai cuisine Mughlai cuisine consists of dishes developed or popularised in the early-modern Indo-Persian cultural centres of the Mughal Empire. It represents a combination of cuisine of the Indian subcontinent with the cooking styles and recipes of C ...

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

and Nepal and in '' tsheringma'' herbal tea in Bhutan. They are called ''biryāni āku/baghāra āku'' (బిర్యానీ ఆకు/బగార ఆకు) in Telugu and ''tejåpåtrå/tejåpåtårå'' (ତେଜପତ୍ର/ତେଜପତର) in Odia. The Lepcha of

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

call them . Wrapped Kumbilappam - Kerala - IMG 20210331 171153

They are often used in kumbilappam or chakka-ada (ചക്ക അട), an authentic sweet from Kerala, infusing their characteristic flavor to the dumplings. They are often labeled as "Indian

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as a herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavour that a bay leaf ...

," or just "bay leaf", causing confusion with the leaf from the

bay laurel ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. According to Flora Cretica (Kleinsteuber Books, 2024, ISBN 978-3-9818110-5-6) the stem can be 1 ...

, a tree of Mediterranean origin in a different genus; the appearance and aroma of the two are quite different. Bay laurel leaves are shorter and light- to medium-green in color, with one large vein down the length of the leaf, while ''tejpat'' leaves are about twice as long and wider, usually olive green in color, with three veins down the length of the leaf. There are five types of ''tejpat'' leaves and they impart a strong cassia- or cinnamon-like aroma to dishes, while the bay laurel leaf's aroma is more reminiscent of pine and lemon. Cinnamomum tamala W IMG 2433

Aroma attributes

* Beta-caryophyllene *

Linalool Linalool () refers to two enantiomers of a naturally occurring terpene alcohol found in many flowers and spice plants. Together with geraniol, nerol, and citronellol, linalool is one of the rose alcohols. Linalool has multiple commercial app ...

* Caryophyllene oxide *

Eugenol Eugenol is an allyl chain-substituted guaiacol, a member of the allylbenzene class of chemical compounds. It is a colorless to pale yellow, aromatic oily liquid extracted from certain essential oils especially from clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, ...

Uses

The bark is sometimes used for cooking, although it is regarded as inferior to true cinnamon or cassia.

Etymology

Malabar had been traditionally used to denote the west coast of Southern India that forms the present-day state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and adjoining areas. The word ''mala'' or ''malaya'' means "mountain" in the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and

languages, as also in Sanskrit. The word "malabathrum" is thought to have been derived from the Sanskrit ''tamālapattram'' (तमालपत्त्रम्), literally meaning "dark-tree leaves".

Related species

* Cassia *

Cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

Saigon cinnamon Saigon cinnamon (''Cinnamomum loureiroi'', also known as Vietnamese cinnamon or Vietnamese cassia and ''quế trà my'', ''quế thanh'', or " quế trà bồng" in Vietnam) is an evergreen tree indigenous to mainland Southeast Asia. Saigon cinna ...

References

External links

* *
Indian bay-leaf page from Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1661611 tamala Medicinal plants of Asia Leaves Indian cuisine Nepalese cuisine Bhutanese cuisine Trees of China Flora of the Indian subcontinent Indian spices