What can you use in place of lauel in a recipe?

Do you mean laurel?

Laurel, also known as Bay or bay leaf, is the leaf of the bay laurel tree. Do not confuse this with other laurels, such as mountain laurel, which may be poisonous.

Substitution wise you can try other leafy herbs, maybe thyme, in your recipe though I am unaware of any that taste exactly like bay. Various myrtle leaves are often confused with bay laurel, such as Oregon myrtle, and may taste similarly.

Indian bay leaves are cinnamon like and very similar to acacia bark (cinnamon).