Makrut lime (citrus hystrix), the fragrant, powerful and easy to grow citrus tree, has many medicinal and culinary uses. Also known as “kaffir lime”, that name is controversial: “Kaffir” means infidel in Arabic, from “kafara”; “kaffir” word is used by white Afrikaners as a pejorative for Black people.
The tree is native to tropical Southeast Asia including southern China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines; all over the world, both leaves and fruit are used, though the leaf is more commonly used than the fruit, which looks much like a what’s known as a Persian lime, except that it is bumpy and especially fragrant.