Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Spice guide to Turmeric along with all the Turmeric containing recipes presented on this site, with 1093 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the spice-based recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Turmeric as a major flavouring.

Turmeric (also Tumeric, Indian Saffron or Kunyit) is a spice formed from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, a representative of plant genus Curcuma and a member of the ginger family, the Zingiberaceae. The most common form of turmeric is the dried and powdered rhizome which is commonly used in curries and other South Asian cuisine and is a significant ingredient in most commercial curry powders. Turmeric is also used to give a yellow colour to some prepared mustards, canned chicken broth, and other foods (often as a much cheaper replacement for saffron). Its main active ingredient (which gives it the distinctive yellow colour) is curcumin. This compound is currently undergoing considerable research as an anti-tumour agent, an anti-inflammatory, as well as an agent that strengthens the blood–brain barrier and blocks the accumulation of β-amyloid proteins in Alzheimer's disease.

The turmeric plant is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant, probably native to tropical South Asia (it needs temperatures of at least 20°C and copious annual rainfall to thrive). For the most part, it is the underground rhizome that is gathered and used as a spice (but the leaves are used in Sumatran cuisine). If not used fresh, then the rhizomes are prepared by being boiled for several hours, dried in ovens and then ground to a powder, which is what is known commercially as 'turmeric'.

Turmeric is often used as a yellow colorant in food and is a crucial component in many curries. However, it is not light fast and should always be stored in a cool, dark, place. Due to it's yellow staining effect turmeric is often confused with saffron (hence it's common name of 'Indian Saffron') and in many spice markets you may be sold powdered turmeric if you're not careful in place of saffron. Indeed, the Latin name of the genus Curcuma is ultimately derived from a Latinization of the Arabic term al-kurkum [الكركم] which originally meant 'saffron' though curcuma is now only used for turmerica and related species.

In terms of both aroma and flavour there is considerable difference between fresh and dried turmeric. Fresh turmeric has an aromatic and spicy fragrance with a fruity overtone (indeed, fresh turmeric sliced into matchsticks is sometimes mixed with fruit salads). The dried spice has a more acerbic, slightly medicinal aroma which becomes rather earthy and unpleasant if the spice is stored too long.

Of the plant's essential oils, the most important are turmerone, ar-turmerone and zingiberene, and it is the conjugated diarylheptanoid, curcumin (1,7-diaryl-hepta-1,6-diene-3,5-diones) that is responsible for the orange colour and the pungency of the taste.

The English name, 'turmeric' is ultimately derived from the medieval French tere-mérite (literally meritorious earth) and probably relates to the dried spice's ochre-like colour.

India is by far the world's largest producer, growing the majority of the world's supply (they use 80% of the crop in India itself). Indeed, the spice (both fresh and dried) is used ubiquitously in almost all Indian dishes.

In South-East Asia however, the fresh rhizome is much preferred to the dried spice and it is used in many Thai curry dishes (it is a component of green and yellow curry pastes).

Dried turmeric is also used extensively in Caribbean (particularly Trinidadian cuisines). In the West, it is not often used by itself (notable exceptions being pickles such as Piccalilli) but is an ingredient of almost all 'curry spices' (which are not native Indian spice blends, but rather an Anglo-Indian invention).

Indian traders also brought the spice to East Africa and it is used commonly in Swahili cuisine and, most notably in Ethiopian and Tanzanian recipes.