It is thought to have been one of the major sources of the medicinal plant leaves known in classic and medieval times as malabathrum (or malobathrum).

[5] The leaves, known as tējapattā or tejpattā (तेजपत्ता) in Hindi, tejpāt (तेजपात/তেজপাত) in Nepali, Maithili and Assamese, tejpātā (তেজপাতা) in Bengali, vazhanayila/edanayila (വഴനയില/എടനഇല) in Malayalam, kaḍu dhālchini (kn:ಕಾಡು ದಾಲ್ಚಿನ್ನಿ) in Kannada, and tamalpatra (તમલપત્ર) in Gujarati, or tamālpatra (तमालपत्र) in Marathi and in original Sanskrit, are used extensively in the cuisines of India, Nepal, and Bhutan, particularly in the Mughlai cuisine of North India and Nepal and in tsheringma herbal tea in Bhutan.

[6] They are often used in kumbilappam or chakka-ada (ചക്ക അട), an authentic sweet from Kerala, infusing their characteristic flavor to the dumplings.

Malabar had been traditionally used to denote the west coast of Southern India that forms the present-day state of Kerala and adjoining areas.

The word "malabathrum" is thought to have been derived from the Sanskrit tamālapattram (तमालपत्त्रम्), literally meaning "dark-tree leaves".