Thursday 29 July 2010

MY FASCINATION WITH HERBS

I have a great fascination with herbs and yesterday afternoon I was fortunate enough to get the proprietor of a restaurant in Teluk Batik to let me visit her herb garden.  The herbs she plants can eaten as ulam-ulaman with the lovely array of sambals that she makes to eat with them.  I am pictured with the Makcik who is a delightful cook and also very knowledgeable about traditional Malay herbs.
This is the pokok ara which is growing by the side of a wall of the restaurant.  There are traditional folk stories about this particular plant being the hideout of ghostly beings.  The young shoots of this plant can be eaten as ulam as well.
Here is the front of the restaurant. 
This the pokok kuncur.  There are two types really.  The one above has broader leaves and the shoots are more reddish in colour.
Me posing beside a Kuncur plant.  The Makcik told me that the plant grows wild in the jungle.  However she has managed to plant a few in her garden.
The Pokok Tenggek Burung which is believed to have properties to raise male libido.
Some of the Pokok Tenggek Burung in the Herb Garden.
Pokok gajus or cashew nut plant
The young shoots of the pokok gajus can be eaten as ulam.
Putat sungai
Temu Pauh

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