All About Galangal | Know Your Spice Greater Galanga (Alpinia galanga)

Galangal or Greater Galanga is the dried rhizome of a plant Alpinia galanga. This is a perennial, robust, tillering, rhizomatous herb.

It is one of four plants known as “galangal”, and is differentiated from the others with the common names lengkuas, greater galangal, and blue ginger.

Denser, firmer and even more knobby than common ginger, the rhizome is rounder, marked with concentric rings every half inch apart and has no skin to be peeled.

Tasting nothing like ginger, it has a hotter and sharper bite combined with a tangy spicy flavor which, to some people, is reminiscent of hot mustard.

Greater galanga is used largely as an herb in Unani medicine and as a spice in Arab cuisine and Southeast Asian cookery. Remember Thai curries.

The Latin generic name “Alpinia” was given to commemorate Prospero Alpini (1553-1617), an Italian Botanist who catalogued and described exotic plants.

The origin of the name galangal is the Chinese phrase gao liang jiang, meaning “good ginger from Gaozhou” (a city in Canton now called Maoming).

The common name “Galangal” is also thought to be derived from the Arabic Khalanjan, perhaps a perversion or an adaptation of the Chinese Liangtiang (meaning ‘mild Ginger’).

China is also probably where lesser galangal originated; greater galanga is native to Java, in Indonesia.

In the middle ages, galanga had routed widely and was used commonly all the way through Europe.

Between 1098-1179 St. Hildegard of Bingen named this ingredient as “The Spice of Life” and used it to reduce bad breath, lessen fevers, and improve weak hearts.

Hildegard’s most popular recipe was that of a greater Galanga wine, which combined white wine with the rhizome and simmered the mixture over heat to blend the flavors.

Later, a prominent herbalist utilized it to cure indigestion, heart problems as well as the deafness.

The Turks during 13^th-14^th centuries, used Greater Galanga as a tea while the Arabs used it as the compost for their horses.

It was also broadly used as the snuff for the various types of infections in nasal, and in Asia and Europe; it was used as an appetite manure as well as aphrodisiac.

Now in Russia, Thai ginger or Siamese ginger is used as the core medium of preparing the liqueurs and vinegars. Besides, it also has a flourishing market in India and other Asian countries.

Since time immemorial, it has been utilised in the leaf, root, powder and juice forms in ayurveda.

Today greater galanga is cultivated throughout Asia and Southeast Asia including India, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, & is also in the South Pacific.

• Various galangal rhizomes are used in traditional Southeast Asian cuisine, such as Thai and Lao.
• Polish Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka is flavoured with galangal.
• It is also used in Russia for flavoring vinegar and the liqueur ‘nastoika’.
• Almost every part of the plant can be used for cooking or healing.
• It has tremendous therapeutic importance in Chinese and traditional Asian medicine.
• Ayurveda and traditional Chinese and European medicine have used different parts of galangal to treat cold, stomach ache, inflammation, diabetes, ulcers, nausea, diarrhea, eczema, and various acute and chronic conditions.
• The seed of galangal is used as a mouth freshener, dental cleanser, digestive aid, and laxative.
• The flowers and tender shoots are used as a spice or vegetable.
• The root or rhizome is used as a spice and source of essential oil.
• In India the oil of galangal is valued in perfumery.
• It is also used for snuffs, aphrodisiacs, and as flavours for condiments (including vinegar and beer), in teas in Germany and wines in Russia.

Fresh galangal has a pure and refreshing odour and a mildly spicy flavour with subtle citrus undertones.

Dried and powdered greater galanga is less fresh but more spicy, something in between of ginger and cinnamon.

Fresh galangal will keep, refrigerated, for up to three weeks. You can also freeze fresh galangal for up to two months in a resealable plastic bag.

You should freeze it with its skin intact to preserve the flavour & health benefits.

You should be able to freeze galangal as you can with ginger. You can cut it into smaller pieces and store them in a container or ziplock bag in the freezer. It’s easy to peel and grate while still frozen.

Store the whole fresh galangal root refrigerated in a ziplock bag with a paper towel for up to 3 weeks. To preserve longer, slice the unpeeled root thinly and air dry or freeze.

The best substitute for greater galangal is to use 1 tablespoon young, fresh ginger root with 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice.

You can also substitute an equal amount of frozen galangal, thawed if you have some frozen.

The rhizome can be found fresh or in dried and powdered form from local markets and specialty grocers, and in dried form through supermarkets and online retailers.

It is also available as Galangal oil.

The following are health benefits of Kulanjan, Greater Galanga or Thai Ginger.

• Health Benefits of Kulanjan as an Antioxidant – Antioxidants are naturally occurring compounds that help protect cells against damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals.
• Health Benefits of Galangal for Digestion – In Ayurvedic medicine and other Asian cultures, it’s used to calm upset stomachs, resolve diarrhea, reduce vomiting and even stop hiccups.
• Health Benefits of Kulanjan against Diabetes – Aerial parts of galangal could stimulate the regeneration of insulin-secreting beta-cells in the pancreas.
• Health Benefits of Galangal against Cancer – The aqueous extract of Alpinia galangal can inhibit the proliferation of human gastric tumor cell lines.
• Health Benefits of Galangal as an Anti-inflammatory Agent – Galangal rhizomes contain flavonoids, tannins, saponins, glycosides, and several phenolic compounds, which display potent anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
• Health Benefits of Galangal as an Antimicrobial Agent – Researchers claim that the essential oils from dried and fresh galangal rhizomes can eliminate bacteria, yeast, fungi, and parasites.
• Health Benefits of Galangal in Male Sexuality – Galangal influences the protein production via expression of related genes involved in spermatogenesis.
• Health Benefits of Galangal as an Antimicrobial Agent – galangal extract exerts an antimicrobial effect on several bacteria known for infecting foods, including staphylococcus, E. coli, listeria, salmonella and clostridium.
• Health Benefits of Galangal for Skin and Hair – Galangal Essential Oil helps to rejuvenate dry and dull looking skin by promoting new cell. The oil boosts elasticity, helping to reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles.