Turmeric is a flowering plant of the ginger family. The roots are used in cooking. Most turmeric is used in the form of rhizome powder to impart a golden yellow colour. Turmeric powder has a warm, bitter, black pepper-like flavour and earthy, mustard-like aroma. Turmeric is one of the key ingredients in many Asian dishes, mostly in a savory but also in some sweet dishes. Turmeric is also used in many products such as canned beverages, baked products, dairy products, ice cream, yogurt, yellow cakes, orange juice, biscuits, popcorn color, cereals, sauces, and gelatin and it is a principal ingredient in curry powders.

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Turmeric is also used widely in Middle Eastern cooking. The Moroccan spice mix Ras el Hanout typically includes turmeric which gives it it yellow colour. In South Africa, turmeric is used to give boiled white rice a golden color, known as geelrys (yellow rice) traditionally served with bobotie. In Vietnamese cuisine, turmeric powder is used to colour and enhance the flavors of certain dishes, such as bánh xèo, bánh khot, and mi quang. In Thailand, fresh turmeric rhizomes are used widely in many dishes, in particular in the southern Thai cuisine, such as yellow curry and turmeric soup. Turmeric is used in a hot drink called "turmeric latte" or "golden milk" that is made with milk, frequently coconut milk. The turmeric milk drink known as haldi doodh (haldi means turmeric in Hindi) is a South Asian recipe.

Although typically used in its dried, powdered form, turmeric also is used fresh, like ginger. It has numerous uses in East Asian recipes, such as pickle that contains large chunks of soft turmeric, made from fresh turmeric.

 

Nice to know: The Buddhist monks’s robes are coloured by Turmeric :)