henna, kunyit, mangis skin, pandan leaves

Ingredients

henna, kunyit, mangis skin, soot, pandan leaves, minerals, vinegar, salt, alcohol, egg yoke

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Colors were extracted from various organic sources: henna (for indigo/blue shades), kunyit (yellow), mangis skin (purplish), and pandan leaves (green) (p. 5). The process involved selecting suitable leaves, fruits, and stems, cutting them, and soaking them in water (p. 5). Other chemicals used as solvents or carriers included vinegar, salt, and alcohol, with egg yoke likely serving as a binder (p. 9). Colors could be thinned or mixed together, such as blue and yellow for green, or yellow and red for orange (p. 5).

Evidence

"They managed to extract different colors from different leaves, flowers, fruits, fruit-skin (including henna for indigo color, kunyit for yellow color, mangis skin for purplish color, soot for dark color and pandan leaves for green color) and stem of plants..."

Remarks

The Malay artist's palette was broad, using minerals and jungle plants. These colors were used extensively in coloring cloth, baskets, and food before being applied to manuscript illumination and illustration (p. 5).