Alpinia galanga,[1] a plant in the ginger family, bears a rhizome used largely as an herb in Unani medicine and as a spice in Southeast Asian cookery.

The name "galangal" is probably derived from Persian qulanjan or Arabic khalanjan, which in turn may be an adaptation of Chinese gao liang jiang.

Its names in North India are derived from the same root, including kulanja in Sanskrit, kulanjan in Hindi, and kholinjan in Urdu.

Other names include romdeng (រំដេង) in Cambodia; pa de kaw (ပတဲကော) in Myanmar; kha (ข่า) in Thailand; nankyō (ナンキョウ, 南姜) in Japan; and hóng dòu kòu (紅豆寇) in Mandarin Chinese.

[6][7] Lengkuas is also the source of the leaves used to make nanel among the Kavalan people of Taiwan, a rolled leaf instrument used as a traditional children's toy common among Austronesian cultures.

[8] The plant grows from rhizomes in clumps of stiff stalks up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in height with abundant long leaves that bear red fruit.

The rhizome has a pungent smell and strong taste reminiscent of citrus, black pepper and pine needles.