Turmeric – from ground to grounded

Along my travel, I’ve tried lots of different things and I have to say there is lot more spices out there that I need to incorporate into my everyday life. Turmeric is on the top of the list for many reasons. It’s aromatic but has heaps of health benefits. It is also commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine.

Turmeric’s benefits:

Powerful anti-flammatory
Antioxidant properties
Natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent
Purify the blood and skin
Cleansing effect on the intestines
And more…

Turmeric is part of the ginger family. No wonder it reminds me of ginger so much! It’s commonly grown in Southeast Asia. I’ve seen it used widely in dishes in India, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. It’s also a great ingredient to add to your tea.

Turmeric is quite easy to grow around Southeast Asia. While at Natsir’s English Nature School, we learned how to turn fresh turmeric from the garden in the commonly found powder form in shops.

During my stay, I’ve seen the whole process from fresh turmeric to the ground turn into powder twice. And I have to say I have a whole new appreciation for the hard work in the process and many more products we take for granted.

Here’s a peek into how to make turmeric powder:

Find turmeric ready for the picking which are grown underground. You can decipher if it is ready when the leaves above ground turn brown. We found heaps in Natsir’s garden.