Turmeric in various forms / Photos by Claire Prest
Most often it is the simple things in life that are taken for granted. I have been cooking with turmeric for years now tossing it into nearly every dish. Turmeric is used liberally in Indian cooking and forms the base of most curries. I’ve had vague notions about its antiseptic properties. I’ve watched fishing communities throughout the country dress fresh fish with salt and turmeric to preserve it in absence of refrigeration. Even families with access to refrigeration persist with this process. And I’ve witnessed Tamil ladies apply turmeric paste to their faces to achieve not only a warm glow but to keep the skin cool and clear from blemishes. I have personally been privy to a turmeric ‘mud-pack’ and can confirm a resultant smoothness of the skin.
turmeric cultivators
Visiting a sustainable development project from one of our affiliates PREM (Peoples Rural Education Movement) I had the opportunity to learn more about this extraordinary everyday spice. Our visit took us to Kandhamal district where 50% of the population (some 300,000 people) are turmeric cultivators. The cultivation begins in the summer months of May and June and is harvested in December through to February. We joined in the harvest that would collectively reap no less than 9,000 tonnes and is worth more than 300 million. Many of the turmeric cultivators here belong to indigenous communities who have practiced traditional farming techniques from time immemorial. This means no synthetic chemical fertilizers have ever touched the soil and ensures the plant is wholly organic. The result is the finest turmeric in the world, not only because of its organic certification but because it has the highest concentrate of curcumin the active ingredient that produces therapeutic benefits. Curcumin is well known for its anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, anti-amyloid and anti-inflammatory properties.
In the mid 1990′s the US patented turmeric raising global concerns of intellectual property rights and indigenous knowledge. The patent was eventually revoked in the face of indisputable evidence that turmeric has been used in India as early as 3000 B.C. The Harappan civilization is believed to be the earliest cultivators of turmeric and Sanskrit texts recount the numerous uses turmeric has found throughout the ages. Indeed turmeric permeates everyday life in India and aided by some cultivators I have come up with some further examples of how this golden spice has become part of life throughout the subcontinent:
- Aid to digestion and immunity.
- Drunk with warm milk, turmeric stems coughs, cures colds and comforts throats.
- Turmeric powder heals open wounds, detoxifies the liver and balances cholesterol levels.
- Its decoction is a stubborn dye used to produce natural textiles.
- Some indigenous communities in Orissa paint their doorways with turmeric paste as an insecticide.
- The women of South India use turmeric to enhance complexion and make a depilatory cream.
- Turmeric forms the base of the vermilion used to mark married Hindu women and throughout temples in India.
Needless to say I will never take this humble spice for granted again!
[...] Lessons in Turmeric From India [...]