Aromatic Ginger
Genus: Kaempferia
Botanical name: Kaempferia galanga Linn
PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
Sanskrit: Gandhamoolaka, Sathi, Dravidaka, Chanda
English: Aromatic Ginger, Resurrection lily, Lesser galangal, Sand ginger
Hindi: Chandramoola
Malayalam: Kacholam, Kachoram
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
A stemless, small rhizomatous herb; rhizome tuberous, aromatic; root-fibres fleshy, cylindric. Leaves 2, spreading flat on the ground, rotund-ovate, deltoid-acuminate. Flowers white, 6-12 from the centre of the plant between the leaves. Lip broad, deeply 2-lobed, with a lilac spot at the base.
The rhizomes of the plant, which contain essential oils, have been used in Chinese medicine as a decoction or powder for treating indigestion, colds, pectoral and abdominal pains, headache and toothache.
The plant is used as a herb in cooking in Indonesia, where it is called kencur, and especially in Javanese and Balinese cuisines. Beras kencur, which combines dried K. galanga powder with rice flour, is a particularly popular jamu herbal drink used to treat rheumatism and abdominal pain.Its leaves are also used in the Malay rice dish, nasi ulam. Kacholam can cuire breathlessness due to toxic substance in to the body.