Monday, November 16, 2009
Mehndi is the dried and powdered leaf
Middle East. You may see it written as mehandi, mehendi, mendhi, henna, al-henna, and a myriad other names and spellings.
Mehndi is the dried and powdered leaf of the dwarf shrub LAWSONIA INERMIS, a member of the Loosestrife family, Lythraceae, which grows to a height of about 2½-3m. A distilled water preparation used for cosmetic purposes is made from its small, sweet-smelling, pink, white and yellow flowers. It grows in hot climates and is supplied mainly from Arabia, Iran, Ceylon, India, Egypt, Pakistan and Sudan, though it may also come from China, Indonesia or the West Indies.
The green powder of the dried leaf is mixed with tea, coffee, sugar, lemon juice, eucalyptus and clove oils, and sometimes tamarind paste to a thick paste. Cones are more used today rather than sticks, and the are made out of polythene bags and used as one ices a cake. The skin is usually cleaned with rose or orange flower water then prepared
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