Kakak laki-laki saya memarut kunyit dan mencampurnya dengan ketumbar untuk bumbu ikan.

In Indonesian, possessors usually come after the noun.

So:

• kakak laki-laki saya = my older brother
• literally, something like older brother male my

This is the normal pattern:

• rumah saya = my house
• ibu saya = my mother
• nama saya = my name

So saya is not acting like English my in front of the noun; it comes after the noun phrase.

Kakak by itself means older sibling. It does not automatically mean male.

If you want to be specific, you can say:

• kakak laki-laki = older brother
• kakak perempuan = older sister

In many real conversations, Indonesians often just say kakak saya if the gender is already clear from context. But kakak laki-laki saya is more explicit.

Also, this is different from adik, which means younger sibling.

Memarut comes from the base word parut, which means to grate or grater/grated texture, depending on context.

With the active verb prefix meN-, parut becomes memarut.

A common sound change happens here:

• meN- + parut → memarut

The initial p drops after this prefix.

This is a very common pattern in Indonesian:

• pakai → memakai
• pukul → memukul
• parut → memarut

So memarut is the active verb to grate.

Mencampurnya means to mix it.

It breaks down like this:

• campur = mix
• mencampur = to mix
• -nya = it / him / her, depending on context

Here, -nya most naturally refers back to kunyit — or more specifically, the turmeric that has just been grated.

So the sentence is basically saying:

• he grates turmeric
• and mixes it with coriander

Indonesian often uses -nya instead of repeating the noun.

Yes, it could, but the meaning would be a little less explicit.

• mencampurnya dengan ketumbar = mix it with coriander
• mencampur dengan ketumbar = mix with coriander

With -nya, the object is clearly stated: the thing being mixed is the turmeric mentioned earlier.

Without -nya, the listener can still understand it from context, but mencampurnya sounds more complete and natural here.

Yes, mencampurkannya is possible, but mencampurnya is simpler and very natural.

Roughly speaking:

• mencampur = to mix
• mencampurkan = to mix something in / to combine something

In many everyday contexts, both can work. In this sentence, mencampurnya is perfectly normal and does not sound incomplete.

So a learner should understand that Indonesian often allows more than one natural verb form here.

In Indonesian, ketumbar usually refers to coriander as a spice, especially the seeds.

If you want to talk about the leaves, people often say:

• daun ketumbar = coriander leaves / cilantro leaves

This matters because English can be confusing:

• in some varieties of English, coriander can mean the whole plant or the seeds
• cilantro usually means the leaves

So in a cooking sentence like this, ketumbar most likely means coriander seed/spice.

Untuk means for and shows purpose.

So untuk bumbu ikan means something like:

• for fish seasoning
• to make seasoning for fish
• as seasoning for fish

Here:

• bumbu = seasoning, spice mixture, spice paste
• ikan = fish

So bumbu ikan is a noun phrase meaning seasoning for fish.

This part tells you the purpose of grating and mixing the spices.

Both are possible.

Indonesian often puts two nouns together, and the relationship is understood from context:

• bumbu ikan = fish seasoning / seasoning for fish
• sup ayam = chicken soup
• toko buku = bookshop

So bumbu ikan is a compact, natural way to say seasoning for fish.

If you say bumbu untuk ikan, it is a little more explicit. The version in the sentence is shorter and very normal.

Because Indonesian normally does not use articles the way English does.

So nouns like:

• kunyit
• ketumbar
• ikan

can mean turmeric, the turmeric, some turmeric, fish, the fish, and so on, depending on context.

The listener figures it out from the situation rather than from an article.

This is one of the biggest differences from English.

That is normal in Indonesian. Verbs usually do not change form for tense.

So:

• memarut
• mencampurnya

do not themselves tell you whether the action is present, past, or future.

Time is usually understood from context or from time words such as:

• kemarin = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• besok = tomorrow
• sedang = in the middle of doing
• akan = will / going to

Without a time marker, the sentence can be understood in whatever time frame the context suggests.

Basically, dan just means and.

However, in this sentence, the actions naturally happen in sequence:

1. he grates the turmeric
2. then he mixes it with coriander

So the order is understood from logic and word order, even though dan itself is just a coordinating word.

If you wanted to make the sequence more explicit, you could use words like:

• lalu = then
• kemudian = then / afterward

But dan is completely fine here.