South Asia

Cubeb

Piper cubeba.

Dried unripe berry, with a small stalk attached (distinguishing it visually from black pepper).

Part Used

Dried whole berries.

Form

Kabab chini (Hindi/Urdu).

India (via historic trade; native range more centred on Indonesia), used in South Asian cuisine and traditional medicine.

Peppery with a distinct bitter, camphorous, slightly numbing edge.

Minor culinary spice, more prominent in some regional biryanis and in traditional medicine.

Some Mughlai-style biryanis and meat dishes calling for kabab chini.

Other whole garam masala spices.

Add whole early in a long-simmered dish.

Whole berries keep well over a year sealed and dark.

Black pepper as a general stand-in, though the camphorous note is lost.

Closely related botanically to uziza and black pepper – all three are Piper species with distinct but related peppery-aromatic profiles.

Some regional garam masala formulations.