Skip to content
FriendsPantry
Turmeric

Roots and rhizomes

Turmeric

Curcuma longa

Bright yellow-orange ground root with an earthy, slightly bitter taste; colours and grounds curries and dals.

Also called: haldi, zerdeçal, cúrcuma, kunyit, ground turmeric

  • Earthy
  • Warm & sweet
  • No heat
Buying & storing254 recipes

Photo: Herusutimbul, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

Flavour and aroma

earthy, bitter, musky, slightly peppery. Earthy, warm, slightly bitter.

Heat
No heat
Forms
ground, fresh

How to use it

  • bloom in fat · Tadka (tempering) technique

    Add to the hot oil for 5–10 seconds after the onions or the tempering, then add something wet. Raw, it tastes chalky and bitter; scorched, it turns acrid.

  • use raw

    Rub with salt onto fish or vegetables before frying.

  • Dals, sabzis and curries
  • Marinades for fish and chicken
  • Yellow rice and pilafs
  • Pickles
  • Southeast Asian curry pastes and Persian stews

Identifying good quality

Bright yellow-orange powder; the dried root is hard, ridged and yellow-brown outside. Good powder is vivid and fragrant. Very bright, unnatural colour can mean added dye.

Origin and history

Origin: South and South-East Asia, most likely India.. Grown and used: India grows about three-quarters of the world's turmeric (Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya); also Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia..

Turmeric has been used in India for thousands of years as a spice, a dye and in ritual. It goes into almost every Indian dal and curry, mainly for colour and an earthy base note. Named types include Alleppey, Erode and the high-curcumin Lakadong of Meghalaya.

Well documented

In masalas, pastes and sauces

Recipes with turmeric

232 more