India's Original "tumeric latte"
The West has discovered turmeric
only in the last decade or so and has lost no time in touting it as a
“superfood”. But in India, turmeric has been a staple ingredient for
centuries.
In India, turmeric is much more than an unassuming kitchen spiceThe West has discovered turmeric only in the last decade or so and has lost no time in touting it as a “superfood”, adding fresh turmeric root to tea and coffee, in tall cold shakes and tiny potent shots.
Since that first encounter in London, I have found turmeric-laden beverages in (mostly hipster) cafes and coffee shops everywhere from San Francisco to Melbourne.
But in India, turmeric has been a staple kitchen ingredient for a long time, used both in its original rhizome or root form, and, more commonly now, in powdered form. My own masala dabba (box containing seasoning and tempering ingredients) has always had turmeric powder amid the mustard seeds, fresh cumin and chilli powder – as my mother’s did and her mother before that.
You may also be interested in:• Are there benefits to eating turmeric and other spices?• India’s little-known Mizo tribal cuisine• The berry that keeps Asia looking young
Curious to know if turmeric has a place in contemporary Indian cooking, opposed to just traditional cooking, I spoke to Thomas Zacharias, executive chef at Mumbai’s popular restaurant The Bombay Canteen that prides itself on using only fresh and local ingredients. Zacharias described turmeric as a “background ingredient with minimal flavour or taste”. He added, “I think most people in India use it out of habit, rather than with any thought about what value it adds to a dish.” Zacharias himself likes to cook with fresh turmeric as a star ingredient whenever possible, like in his version of the Kerala fish curry known as meen moilee.
It is not surprising then that in the Tamil harvest festival of Pongal in mid-January, fresh turmeric leaves and roots are tied to the mouth of the ceremonial pot in which milk is boiled, indicating abundance. For in India, turmeric is much more than an unassuming kitchen spice, assuming a significant place in culture.
Among many Hindu communities, turmeric is used in festive occasions like weddings as a marker of fertility and prosperity. The pre-wedding haldi ceremony, for instance, involves family elders applying turmeric paste on the faces of the bride and the groom in a blessing-meets-beauty ritual. The taali or mangalsutra (a thread tied around the bride’s neck by the groom to formalise the marriage) is often a thick woven thread dipped in turmeric water; and even now, clothes worn on auspicious occasions (including weddings) have a touch of turmeric powder in some corner. Also, Indian women have always added a pinch of turmeric to their homemade face packs, believing that it leaves the skin clear and glowing.
When I checked into a reputed Ayurveda hospital in Kerala for a chronic pain condition 10 years ago, I was immediately put on a treatment of manjakizhi, or turmeric poultice, along with the other remedies of massages and medicines. As the senior physician explained it then, Ayurveda states that turmeric helps in reducing inflammation and therefore pain
From applying a turmeric paste over sprained ankles to sniffing a smoked rhizome clump to ward off a cold, many Indians use turmeric as a home remedy, and it has been used in the traditional medical system of Ayurveda for centuries.
Turmeric gets both its bright yellow colour and its purported health benefits from the chemical component called curcumin. One theory is that curcumin’s efficacy is boosted by the way it is fried in oil in Indian cooking. “Curcumin is a fat-soluble compound, combining turmeric with fats enhances the absorption of curcumin than eating it in a water-soluble form,” said nutrition expert and author of The Everyday Healthy Vegetarian, Nandita Iyer. Which if true, it would be music to my ears. It means I can say no to haldi doodh without any guilt, while binging on spicy and oily haldi ka achar.
Source:
BBC