What to do with turmeric?

[eco4560]

My turmeric leaves are starting to die down, and I've heard that is when I should lift the bulb for harvesting.
But what do I do with it? I can't use it all fresh this week. Any tips on home preserving? I don't have a dehydrator.

[ppp]

hi

you can leave it in the ground. Preserve it there.. particularly while it remains fairly dry... you can as a minimum wait until it dies right down to nothing.

We have tumeric in the freezer which we just scrubbed then put it in.. keeps well there.
The other option which I am yet to try, but am currently using for jerusalem artichokes is storing in soil. This method is (i think) also sometimes called "heeling in".
THe coolness of the soil in a wooden box (or bucket in my case) supposedly stores root crops well.
We have eated jerusalem artichokes a month after harvest which were simply stored in soil in the shed, we are also storing there for replanting material.. perhaps freeze some, use some and heel some in (keep some for next year!)

[aroideana]

Very good crop of turmeric dug up end of July last year .
You could make a large batch of Burmese curry paste , and try this recipe for Fish Curry.

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BURMESE FISH CURRY

This base paste takes a lot of work so its best to double or triple qtys.
And store some for later use , it keeps very well in the freezer or just covered in some oil.

1. 3 large onions , roughly chopped .
2. 1 complete bulb of garlic , peeled and crushed.
3. 1 handfull of Turmeric , peeled and grated .
4. 1 big bit of ginger , peeled and grated .
5. 1 cup of oil .
6. fresh chillis can be added [ I don’t ]
7. cook on low heat until all moisture is gone .
Ingredients can be put in food processor , but turmeric will stain it forever .
This last step takes forever , it must be stirred frequently.
It will be a very dark red brown colour ,
Finished when the oil separates .

Now for the Curry ..

1. Heat up 1 teaspoon of prawn paste.
2. Add 1 or 2 finely chopped stalks of lemon grass.
3. Add approx 1 cup of paste.
4. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar
5. Add 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
6. Add 1 cup diced tomato
7. simmer for ten minutes
8. add fish fillets skin up , and fry for 1 minute
9. turn and cover in paste
10. simmer another 10 minutes
11. add handful finely chopped parsely and coriander .
12. nice option is a dash of sesame oil .
13. mild fish is best , fillets are good , cutlets ok


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[eco4560]

MMMMMM that sounds wonderful!

[charlesinnaloo]

Thats a truck load a tumeric, mine is dying down So i dug out one to hothouse and see if it over winters. It had .........the original tuber I grew it from.....I guess I had little love and Perth might be a bit cold and hot rather than tropical.

[aroideana]

Very good harvest when well grown in the tropics . Plant a little finger , and then dig up a few handfulls .
i MIGHT EXPERIMENT using some fresh turmeric in pickles .
Will have to process some cinnamon branches also I suppose .
Grated and then boiled in vinegar with cloves and allspice .

Mate down the road just grates several fingers into his daily salad.

Imagine a pretty heavy duty machine would be needed to grind up dried turmeric into powder .

[Michaelangelica]

It is not a herb i use a lot either, so i would appreciate some hints on incorporating it in food;
especially since all the recent research on its medicinal properties.
see
http://www.psa-rising.com/eatingwell/turmeric.htm
I was surprised to see Woolies selling it by the kilo recently.

[eco4560]

Tried this one -

grate the fresh root
mix with lime juice
press through a sieve into glass with some palm sugar
dissolve
serve over ice

I didn't have palm sugar just raw cane sugar. Nice though.... Earthy taste.

Curry making tomorrow I think!

[Tropical food forest]

raw cane sugar is just as good

whats even better is the big chunks of Cane sugar you can get at some asian grocery stores
its a 1 kilo block. wellunder $10
its a fraction of the price of palm sugar
and has the full flavour because its staill has rem
nants of the molasses in it

just so tasty, not just in this drink but also in Capeirinha

Lime juice 1/2 lime
palms sugar or above mentioned raw cane sugar tsp to desert sp
Cachaca - or a white rum will do. even a vodka 30 -45 ml

really crush the and brusies the limes to burst the sacs
but also to release the oils from the zest into the drink
serve neat over ice
great sundowner

yes the turmeric drink has that earthy taste. you may acquire it

try the same recipe with ginger if you want something hotter and more sharp

[mischief]

Okay Im dribbling here.
Does anyone in NZ have some Tumeric corms I can have or buy?