Piper longum or long pepper, locally called Hippali or Pippali is a cousin of Piper nigrum, the regular keri menasu.
Long pepper has a similar, but spicier-with-a-sweet-dash taste to black pepper. It is dried and used as a spice and seasoning just like kari menasu. I love adding it to green chilli pickle, just like how we add fresh green peppers. Adds a punch to the already zingy pickle.
Long pepper is known to contain the chemical compound piperlongumine and is a powerful stimulant for both the digestive and the respiratory systems and has been shown to have a rejuvenating effect on the lungs. I can vouch for it's medicinal effects, especially in relieving cough and chest congestion.I used to use long pepper powder along with saunt/dry ginger powder, lime and honey for my daughter Joanna as a baby-toddler, when she used to be often troubled by chest congestion. Getting her to lick the sweet mixture thrice a day would work wonders and still does, even for me. I add it to my kashayya too.
Mum's Piper longum is growing in an 18" earthen pot, placed on her balcony parapet wall. It is clambering over the metal grille. She bought it as a little sapling from a local nursery. It began yielding after about eight months and is about a year and a half old. Mum has been trimming it to let it grow lateral shoots and now it is quite bushy. I'm sure it would have done much better if grown in the ground. Unfortunately, both the saplings I had perished in accidents and I am yet to get a sapling for myself. The nursery has promised to get one for me again. Dreaming of harvesting Piper longum fruit of my own one day soon...
Long pepper has a similar, but spicier-with-a-sweet-dash taste to black pepper. It is dried and used as a spice and seasoning just like kari menasu. I love adding it to green chilli pickle, just like how we add fresh green peppers. Adds a punch to the already zingy pickle.
Long pepper is known to contain the chemical compound piperlongumine and is a powerful stimulant for both the digestive and the respiratory systems and has been shown to have a rejuvenating effect on the lungs. I can vouch for it's medicinal effects, especially in relieving cough and chest congestion.I used to use long pepper powder along with saunt/dry ginger powder, lime and honey for my daughter Joanna as a baby-toddler, when she used to be often troubled by chest congestion. Getting her to lick the sweet mixture thrice a day would work wonders and still does, even for me. I add it to my kashayya too.
Mum's Piper longum is growing in an 18" earthen pot, placed on her balcony parapet wall. It is clambering over the metal grille. She bought it as a little sapling from a local nursery. It began yielding after about eight months and is about a year and a half old. Mum has been trimming it to let it grow lateral shoots and now it is quite bushy. I'm sure it would have done much better if grown in the ground. Unfortunately, both the saplings I had perished in accidents and I am yet to get a sapling for myself. The nursery has promised to get one for me again. Dreaming of harvesting Piper longum fruit of my own one day soon...
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