Piper longum
Piper longum L.
Family : Piperaceae
Common Name : പിപ്പലി(Mal)
पिप्पली(Hin)
Indian long pepper( Eng)
Long pepper (Piper longum), sometimes called Indian long pepper or pippali, is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Long pepper has a taste similar to, but hotter than, that of its close relative Piper nigrum – from which black, green and white pepper are obtained.
Scandent or straggling shrubs, sometimes ascending and climbing. Leaves simple, alternate, ca. 8 x 4 cm, ovate, acute at apex, cordate and strongly oblique at base, 7-nerved, membranous, shining above; nerves impressed; petiole 1-3 cm long. Female spike stout, erect; peduncle 1.5 cm long; bracts peltate, orbicular. Male spike to 7 cm long, erect, slender; stamens 2. Fruit oblong to 2-3 x 0.5 cm; berry 2 mm across, glabrous, black or deep red.
Uses
Though often used in medieval times in spice mixes like "strong powder", long pepper is today a very rare ingredient in European cuisines, but it can still be found in Indian and Nepalese vegetable pickles, some North African spice mixtures, and in Indonesian and Malaysian cooking. It is readily available at Indian grocery stores, where it is usually labeled pippali. Pippali is the main spice of Nihari, one of the national dishes of Pakistan and the Indian metropolis of Lucknow.
Distribution
Indo-Malesia
Flowering & Fruiting :
August-January