Page 70 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

healing. Ginger teas are becoming increasingly popular for nausea.

Indonesians believe its juice works well for colic, coughs and catarrh. The
pounded rhizome is also good for itching, grazes and deep wounds, and one of
its prime functions in Indonesia is warming the body. When combined with salt,
a smaller variety of ginger root (surti; zingiber officinale var. rubrum) is an
important antidote for snake bites.
Common ginger appears in formulæ for Galian Langsing, a slimming jamu

for men and women; Galian Singset, to tighten and firm the body; Galian Gadis,
for teenage health; Sehat Wanita, to give women energy and good health; Sehat
Lelaki, which does the same for men; Galian Bersalin for post-natal care; Hamil
Tua, for problems in late pregnancy, and Sawan for itchiness and stomach upsets
in babies. Finally, common ginger is used in tonics and medicines for stimulating
the appetite.

Turmeric (Curcuma domestica)
Turmeric has travelled way beyond the kitchen. The rhizome’s botanical name,
curcuma domestica, comes from the Arabic kurkum, but Indonesians call it
kunyit or kunir (kunyit in Indonesian; kunir in Javanese), meaning yellow.
Turmeric has added flavour and colour to Asian cooking for thousands of years.
It provides the yellow in curries and is used to colour dishes for ritual
celebrations, such as the Indonesian rice cone known as a
tumpeng.

Colour is the key to turmeric’s history. Yellow has long been considered
sacred in the East because it symbolizes the sun, the source of light, energy and
growth. Thus, it is associated with royalty throughout Asia. In some cases