Golden spice

The role of turmeric as an indispensable spice, invaluable miracle drug, and sacred totem will continue to colour our lives for years to come, write Anurag Mallick & Priya Ganapathy

For a humble root, turmeric has a lot to boast about. Prized as perfume and spice during Biblical times, the deep yellow pigment, tinged Buddhist robes ochre and dominated Indian cuisine and culture for over 4,500 years. Its incredible medicinal uses find mention in Vedic texts, Ayurveda and Unani traditions. The medical treatise Sushruta Samhita recommends turmeric to relieve food poisoning. Ancient buried clayware near Delhi has revealed residual turmeric, ginger and garlic dating to 2500 BC. Around 600 BC, the Assyrians prepared a herbal mixture with it. Turmeric reached the west via the sun worshippers of Persia when their saffron supplies got depleted. It reached China around 700AD, East Africa by the 9th Century and West Africa by the 13th Century.

Called haridra or ‘dear to Hari’ in Sanskrit, haldi in Hindi, manjal in Tamil literature and arshina in Kannada, its Latin name Curcuma is derived from the Sanskrit kumkuma while the word ‘turmeric’ comes from Latin terra merita meaning ‘meritorious earth’. Due to its typical brilliant golden hue, it’s also called ‘Indian saffron’. Like gods and goddesses praised with a thousand names, Ayurvedic literature has over 100 appellations for it — jayanti (victor over diseases), ratrimanika (as beautiful as moonlight), vishagni (killer of poison), pitika (that which imparts yellow), jawarantika (fever cure), varnadatri (complexion enhancer).

Curing properties

Blessed with beneficial qualities, turmeric is hailed across South Asia as a wide-ranging cure thanks to its superhero bioactive compound curcumin, one of 100 such chemicals isolated from it. Being anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimalarial, antiparasitic, it heals wounds, boosts immunity, combats diabetes, obesity, neurological and psychiatric disorders and lowers cholesterol plaque. Haldi doodh or golden milk has been the go-to grandma’s remedy for cold. Chinese medicine practitioners used it to treat liver and gall bladder issues, chest congestion, menstrual problems and bleeding.

In nature, turmeric grows underground below its oblong foliage as a dull umber coloured tuberous rhizome of Curcuma longa, a perennial plant of the ginger family Zingiberaceae. There are over 133 species of Curcuma across the world. A cross-section of the rhizome displays its tender dark orange interior. When mature, the rhizomes are harvested and undergo a process of boiling and sun drying, before being packed as yellow roots, or ground into a golden yellow powder or extract that finally makes its way in various forms onto our kitchen shelves, religious and ceremonial traditions besides cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and textile dyeing industries!

Aromatic condiment

India is the world’s highest producer of turmeric crop, producing nearly 1,00,000 tons annually… and consumes nearly 80% of it. Indian turmeric is regarded as the best in the world. Indian cuisine wouldn’t be the same without this special aromatic condiment that infuses its warm, mildly acrid earthy flavour and stains everything yellow — be it curries, fries, rice and innumerable dishes.

Erode in Tamil Nadu is the largest global producer and trading centre of turmeric (Sangli in Maharashtra is a close second), hence dubbed Yellow City or Turmeric City. Omnipresent in the Indian kitchen, the western world has suddenly woken up to the wonders of turmeric and the eastern wisdom of its health benefits. Today turmeric wields the answer to everything from colds to cancer. Curcumin is deemed the safe new drug, marketed as capsules, tablets, ointments, energy drinks, soaps and cosmetics. In Japan, people use turmeric in tea, in cosmetics in Thailand, as a colourant in China, in drinks in Korea, as an antiseptic in Malaysia and Pakistan and in cheese, butter, chips, sauce and latte in the United States! Turmeric is widely used in South Asian and Middle Eastern recipes — fresh turmeric features in kroeung, the signature Cambodian curry paste used in amok, turmeric leaves are used in Minang and Padang cuisine of Sumatra in Indonesia, the yellow curry and turmeric soups in Thai cuisine, the Iranian khoresh stews use onions caramelised in oil and turmeric, besides being an ingredient in Morrocco’s spice mix ras el hanout and South Africa’s geelrys (yellow rice).

In Nepal, shepherds cook rice in turmeric and also apply turmeric on their foreheads before setting off with their flocks along the perilous mountain tracts; they believe that the blessed turmeric protects them from harm.

Indonesia has a fair share of turmeric-based traditions, too. Yellow turmeric rice is part of the wedding feast while a bridal couple applies turmeric on their arms. After childbirth, turmeric is smeared on the mother’s abdomen and used as an ointment to cut the umbilical chord, both for healing and protection against evil spirits.

Balming effect

The golden turmeric has a distant cousin growing in North East India — kali haldi, which literally is blackish-blue in colour. Curcuma caesia or black zedoary/turmeric is used fresh or in powder form and also has medicinal properties to tackle gastric issues, dysentery and tonsillitis.

Among the tribes in Manipur, a paste made of black turmeric rhizome is applied to heal wounds and is a remedy for snake or scorpion bites! Being antioxidant and antifungal, it fights inflammations. The paste is also a balm for painful or stiff joints.

The Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya is known for the excellent Lakadong turmeric, with a high curcumin content of 7% against the usual 2-3%.

The keen interest is ushering in a Yellow Revolution of sorts in this nook of the North East.

Besides being rooted in religion and rituals, superstitions are also rife — tying or wearing a turmeric root keeps wandering evil spirits away; during exorcisms, the presence of spirits is detected by lighting a turmeric root… apparently, ghosts abhor the smell of burning turmeric!

(The authors are travel and food writers “loosely based” in Bengaluru. They’ve authored guides and coffee table books including a cookbook for the USDA called ‘Southern Comfort: Southern American Soul Food’, set up an award-winning restaurant and curated the India episode of Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, Season 2.
Follow their adventures on Instagram: @red_scarab)