Indian Bay-leaf (Cinnamomum tamala [Buch.-Ham.] Nees et Eberm.)

Indian Bay leaf, flowering branch www.pioneerherbs.com

Indian bay-leaves are the leaves of a tree closely related to cinnamon. The tough, three-veined leaves are very popular in Northern India, but are little known elsewhere – at least, today. They were well known to the Romans under the name malobathrum (also spelt malabathrum) and used both for perfumery and in cooking; in recipes, they were often just referred to as folia “leaves”, which some cookbook editions misrender as bay leaves. See also silphion for the flavours of ancient Rome. Indian bay leaves were still available during the middle ages and used for beer brewing till the 16.th century (see also gale), but later they fell victim to the multitude of new spices available, and were forgotten.

Today, Indian bay-leaves are a spice used almost exclusively in the kitchens of Northern India, especially in the famous Moghul cuisine that was developed at the Imperial courts in Delhi and Agra. In accordance with the origins of the Moghul dynasty, Moghul cooking contains elements derived from Arabic and Persian cooking. This culinary style aims at a complexity and perfection comparable to the architectonic beauty of the Taj Mahal, which was built in the same era.

In Moghul cooking style, much use is made of sweet and aromatic spices; besides Indian bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom are considered the most important spices for delicious rice dishes (biriyanis). Furthermore, Moghul cuisine is characterized by rather small chile usage (contrasting habits in the rest of India); cumin, which is a most popular spice all over India, is frequently substituted by a closely related, but culinarily different, plant known as black cumin (see there for a fuller account on moghul cuisine).

Indian bay leaves are found not only in biriyanis, but also in Moghul kormas, for which today the northern Indian city of Lucknow is famous. To make korma, meat (or occasionally vegetable) is slowly but for long time braised in a rich, fragrant sauce thickened with ground almonds; often, the cooking pots are sealed to avoid any loss of aroma. Indian bay-leaves also form part of the Northern Indian spice mixture garam masala (see cumin), which is almost the only time when they are used in ground form.

Since Indian bay leaves are hardly available in the West, most books encourage the use of laurel (the Mediterranean bay leaf) instead. Though acceptable, you should know that the taste is not the same, and also weaker. The best substitutes are cinnamon leaves or fresh cardamom leaves, but these are also not easy to come by. I prefer the South American boldo leaves: although their flavour is rather different, it is at least strong enough for the highly spiced Moghul foods. Easier and still satisfactory substitutes are a small piece of cinnamon bark or a dried allspice berry.