Turmeric RhizomeCurcuma longa

Cured and dried finger rhizomes, deep orange, supplied whole, sliced or milled.

About this material

Turmeric reaches the buyer as the cured rhizome, not the fresh one. Lifted rhizomes are boiled or steamed until soft, which gelatinises the starch and fixes the colour evenly through the flesh, then sun-dried for a week or more until they rattle. Fingers and bulbs are graded apart: fingers are firmer and more uniform and are preferred for slicing and extraction, while bulbs carry more of the rough outer skin. The dried rhizome is hard enough to need a hammer mill and breaks with a clean waxy fracture that should be uniformly orange right to the centre.

Also called

Haldi, Manjal, Indian Saffron