Tell me about some traditional Balinese remedies… (Part 1)
When Balinese get sick, they don’t always reach for the Panadol or antibiotics. Many people still prefer to use traditional herbal remedies which are not only cheaper but also believed to be more effective.
An example of a Balinese herbal remedy is boreh. It is a concoction made up of natural ingredients such as roots (bebungkilan), leaves (don-donan), rice, flowers, fruits, herbs, and spices. There are a number of different roots which are often used to make boreh, called cekuh (lesser galanga), temutis (a type of tumeric), jae (ginger), kunyit (tumeric), and isen (alpina galanga). The common herbs and spices chosen are cengkeh (cloves), sepet-sepet, jebug garum (nutmeg), mica (pepper), and tabia buun (dried type of chillis). Sometimes these ingredients are mixed with bark from a mesui tree. The leaves are taken from a tropical plant called legundi. All the ingredients are dried first and then ground with water using a mortar and pestle (penguyegan) to create a yellowy brown paste. If the recipe is complete, the Balinese called it ‘boreh gede’.
Balinese use boreh to warm a patient’s body. It is most commonly administered to the skin of people who have a fever, headache or complain of stiff joints or aches and pains. For those suffering from rheumatism, the mixture is simplified to two parts: arak (strong Balinese white spirits) and jae. The paste is smeared on the affected area and left until it dries. Only once the warmth from the paste has disappeared should the patient wash it off.
There is also an even simpler and quicker herbal medicine that Balinese like to use, particularly for babies. This is called simbuh. It is a mixture of rice and roots or herbs which are chewed until soft and then blown on the skin. During periods of cooler weather Balinese keep their children’s bodies at an even temperature by using this unique herbal remedy.
Next edition I’ll tell you about loloh and other types of leaves that Balinese use for healing.
