Turmeric

[daisy]

By golly, by gee, if a recipe calls for 'dried', and I have 'fresh' available, there is no hesitation, no question at all - I use fresh whenever possible. There is absolutely NO comparison in the taste - fresh is always best (with the possible exception of bay leaves and saffron and one or two others.) Sadly, a lot of people can't or won't grow their own, and will never learn the difference.

My son has been making a lot of curry dishes lately - his latest fad - and has been using dried turmeric. I happen to have turmeric growing (in my all-herb garden), and I dug him up some roots and gave them for him to try (well, actually he did the digging himself!). He said the difference in the results was astonishing and wonderful - he'll be visiting me a little more often in future to raid my garden!

 

[Candocook]

Wonders absolutely NEVER cease!! I have never really thought about where turmeric comes from because I use it so rarely but have recently become interested in INdian cooking. Is this a perrenial?
And this site gives quite amazing info on the "good-ness" of turmeric.
Turmeric

 

[daisy]

Turmeric is a perennial, but even here in the subtropics it dies down to nothing during winter, then pops back up again in spring (fairly late in spring, actually!). Each time I dig some up, I replant a few pieces of the root, so I have several plants. It grows much like ginger, which of course I also have, along with other tropical herbs like lemongrass, galangal, arrowroot, cardamom, kaffir lime etc.

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[Yakuta]

How lucky of you to get fresh turmeric from your garden. I manage to get my hands on the fresh stuff once in a while at my local farmer market.

Fresh turmeric looks like ginger (a lot smaller and more delicate and not stringy).

We normally remove the peel of the turmeric, cut it into small thin oval discs and pickle it with some salt and white vinegar. It is eaten as a side with dishes like beans and rice.

Most Indians believe that turmeric has a lot of medicinal qualities and it is used heavily in ayurveda which is practiced as an alternate medicine form in the East.

 

[YT2095]

I`de love a section of root to grow my own from, I already do Ginger and Lemon grass in the greenhouse, Turmeric would totaly Rock!

 

[boufa06]

Gosh, Daisy, how I envy you! I only managed to grow lemon grass here. Hopefully, next year I could bring some roots of galangal and turmeric from Singapore to grow again. Do you know that the leaves of turmeric can be eaten? There is a Singaporean/Malaysian dish, Nasi Ulam, that calls for the leaves of turmeric, lemon grass, basil and other herbs. You might want to try it.

 

[urmaniac13]

Wow, fresh turmeric!!? I only know them in a form of yellow powder!! Knowing what difference fresh basil leaves, thyme leaves and ginger roots make compared to the dried processed ones, it must be amazing... we have a lot of food shops and stalls in the market run by indian/south asian folks, just in case I have been missing it out I must check with them next time and see if they have them!

 

[Sararwelch]

One of the grocery stores I go to has turmeric leaves, and I never gave it a second thought. I'll have to buy them next time I go!

 

[daisy]

Well, now I've learned something! I did not know that turmeric leaves were edible. I did a google search for Nasi Ulam and it looks very interesting indeed! Thanks for the tip!