Indian Spices > Turmeric

Name - Turmeric

Botenical Name - Curcuma longa L

Family Name - Zingiberaceae

Commercial Part - Rhizome or underground stem Turmeric powder should be kept in an airtight container and stored in a cool dry place. It is not advisable to make fresh turmeric powder or paste as it is extremely hard to grind.

Details - Hindi Name Haldi India alone produces nearly the whole world's crop of turmeric and uses 80% of it. In today's India, turmeric is added to nearly every dish be it non- vegetarian or vegetables. Turmeric is part of all Indian curry powders and due to Indian influence, turmeric made its way to the cuisine of Ethiopia. In South East Asia, the fresh spice is much preferred to the dried.

The dried rhizome of a herbaceous plant, turmeric is closely related to ginger. The spice is also sometimes called 'Indian saffron' thanks to its brilliant yellow colour. Indian turmeric has been know to the world since ancient times.

Several unique properties of Indian turmeric make it the ideal choice as a food flavour, an effective ingredient in medicines and cosmetics and as a natural colourant. With its rich curcumin content, which imparts the distinctive yellow colour, and other inherent qualities, Indian turmeric is considered the best in the world. India is today the largest exporter of turmeric to discerning countries . Some of the well accepted varieties are : ' Alleppey Finger' and 'Erode turmeric ' (from Tamil Nadu), 'Rajapore' and 'Sangli turmeric' (from Maharashtra) and Nizamabad Bulb (from Andhra Pradesh). India also exports turmeric in powder form and as oleoresin.

Name In International Languages -

Spanish : Curcuma
French : Curcuma
German : Kurkuma Gelbwurzel
Swedish : Gurkmeja
Arabic : Kurkum
Dutch : Geelwortel
Italian : Curcums
Portuguese : Acafrao-da-India
Russian : Zholty Imbir