Lets Talk Turmeric

Spice that's not just for cooking

A spice that heals from wounds to relieving arthritis.

It’s amazing how some spices take you back to your childhood. How I appreciate my mother’s great knowledge of the spices she used. Her fine skills of preparing fresh wonderful food. Using so many different spices and this wonderful yellow /orange colour spice called turmeric my mother used in her curries.

The daal dish may have been very cheap to cook but it was so delicious. View daal recipe. My mother always buttered the chapattis and there would be bowls of yellow coloured daal and a pint of milk for me and my two brothers to share. We never needed reminding of finishing the daal.

Her chicken curry soups were equally delicious. I remember my mum helping family members who were ill or cooking for friends who just given birth. She would cook this special chicken on the bone dish adding turmeric. I believe this was like a natural healing remedy..See link below for more on health benefits.

She didn't just feed us fresh homemade food she was also making sure the spices were the best and benefited us, she added spice that not only gave aroma and colour but all the goodness to have a healthy body.

Tips/info on Turmeric

• Turmeric will stain easily. Stains can be removed by washing with soap and water.

• I‘ve used it when suffering from stomach pain. (Menstrual problems).Add ¼ tsp in warm glass of milk and honey. For a soothing drink. I like to also add a green cardamom pod for the extra aroma and flavour.

• Boil some water and add some turmeric to give flavour and colour to your rice, pasta dish

• Getting the best benefits from turmeric use it in as many of your dishes, fish, meat, vegetables. Why not mash potatoes with some turmeric.

• Indian brides use turmeric night before the wedding for a glowing skin. For making your own turmeric mask you will need 1 cup of chick pea flour, 3 tbsp of turmeric, and some almond oil to make paste. Apply paste on skin and leave for few minutes. Using your fingers rub paste of gently. Helps with exfoliating. Wash the rest of and you will soon notice how soft your skin feels.

Try out my healthy Amaali's Spicy Salmon with some turmeric. View recipe

There's lots of information on the whfooods.org website.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=78