BTW-Tejpatta is Indian Bay-leaf (Cinnamomum tamala) and is different in taste and fragrance than the typical Western Bay Leaf (Laurus nobilis). There is a native California Laurel that is not recommended for cooking as it is pungent and can be poisonious if too much is onsumed. It is used for decorative kitchen wreaths. The Sanskrit name tamalapattra [तमालपत्त्र] means “dark leaf”. Greek traders took that name to their own language, but falsely identified the Sanskrit word as a plural form with definite article, (ta) malabathra [(τὰ) μαλαβάθρα] for which they backformed a singular (to) malabathron [(τὸ) μαλαβάθρον]. This name was then taken by the Romans as malabathrum or malobathrum. Many recent languages of Northern India have names for Indian bay-leaf that derive from that Sanskrit term, e.g., Marathi tamal patra [तमाल पत्र]. In Hindi and some related tongues, the spice is known as tejpatta [तेजपत्ता] “pungent leaf”.