Turmeric - Spice Gold
grow and process your own turmeric spice
Growing turmeric is easy to do. You stick a rhizome in some healthy soil in the spring time, and then you wait to harvest it in autumn. I barely do any maintenance or fertilising of my turmeric. Healthy soil and consistent irrigation works well enough for me. The question today is, “what do you do with the turmeric after you harvest it?”
The short answer is – I eat it! The long answer is the reason for this blog post.
When I harvest turmeric, I cut the stems off and I leave it to dry and cure for a week or two. Thereafter, I slice it up, lay the slices flat on a tray and let them air dry. You could use a dehydrator but I don’t have one so I let the air do the drying. I like to let my sliced turmeric dry out on an open tray covered by a paper towel, undisturbed for 3 weeks. The time for drying will depend on your environment and how thinly you have sliced the turmeric. You want your turmeric slices to be bone dry!! You’ll know it is dry enough when the pieces snap easily between your fingers (without bending). That means all the moisture is gone.
Now you can grind the dry turmeric slices. I use a coffee grinder, but some people use food processors and other appliances. Honestly, you don’t have to grind it. If your slices are a small enough size, you can just use them as they are if you’re making teas or curries. You’d just have to take them out because biting into a slice of turmeric in your food is no fun!
Grind the slices into a fine turmeric powder, et voila! You have your own organically grown, home-made turmeric powder.
Why go to all the trouble to make your own turmeric powder?
I believe it is important to know what you are putting into your body. You may want to check the labels on your store-bought spices. Are they irradiated? Are they organically grown? Where were they grown? If you have any doubts about the sources and processing methods of your spices, you need to consider growing the spices yourself. It is so easy, as I have already mentioned, and it is affordable! A few small rhizomes planted in spring can yield enough turmeric powder for a year’s consumption.
I hope you are inspired to try this with turmeric, ginger, chillies and any other herbs and spices. Home grown spices taste the best!
Go on and elevate your plate!