The golden spice which most of them know is only in the form of a yellow powder. Turmeric, the golden spice found in almost every kitchen, comes from the rhizomes of the turmeric plant. Despite its ubiquitous presence, many have never seen the plant or the rhizomes, nor do they know the process behind this essential spice that fills their masala box..
The process of turning the turmeric plant into a bright yellow spice requires specific conditions, skilled work and patience.
Before these rhizomes can be used to create turmeric powder, they must go through a steaming , drying and curing process. The first step in this process is to ‘sweat’ the turmeric; the long roots are trimmed off and the individual rhizomes, or ‘fingers’, are split from the main root bulb, also called the ‘mother’ rhizome.
They are spread onto the ground, covered with leaves and left alone for a couple of weeks till the steaming machines arrive at our village and the process begins..
Once boiled, the rhizomes are immediately dried in the sun to prevent overcooking; this stage is called curing and is performed to reduce drying time and further improve the uniformity of the color…
Once dry, the turmeric rhizomes are polished by being rubbed and this removes the rough outer surface and creates an attractive finish, enhancing their natural deep yellow color.
The final stage in this process is to grind the dried, polished rhizomes into the fine powder which has become so popular on the shelves of stores around the world.
