Tumeric is definitely my Golden spice, it is one of the most essential spices in Punjabi cuisine.

In Punjabi, tumeric is called ‘Huldi’ it comes from a plant of the ginger family. It is a gorgeous vivid colour with a emphatic flavour and is usually sold as a fine bright yellow powder. Fresh tumeric is however quite orange inside with a aromatic and spicy fragrance but when dried it turns bright yellow with a more earthy aroma.

Tumeric is known to also have healing properties and I’ve grown up learning to use it in a lot of my cooking not only for the taste, colour and spice, but also for it’s many health benefits. My mum always spoke about huldi having so many health benefits and her words of wisdom were passed to her from her grandparents from many generations such as it being a natural blood purifier and revitaliser as well as it having anti-inflammatory properties as well.

Within my family we live by those teachings which have been passed down to us by generations. I have also seen it being used in practice within my family as well. I am not a medical professional so this is a very personal story that I’m sharing with you.  

My beautiful mum has suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis for the past 30 years and she was diagnosed with it when I about 7 years old. I believe  (as does my mother) that she has been able to help control and stabilise her condition by not just relying on prescription medicines but by also including fresh root tumeric into her diet as part of her treatment. By doing this for many many years we believe the natural blood purifying and anti-inflammatory benefits of tumeric have helped mum immensely. It’s been one spice amongst others that she and I believe has helped her journey in fighting such a horrible disease. I feel deeply blessed in being able to say that she now enjoys not just being an amazing mum to me and my siblings but is also an amazing grandmother. She is able to play and interact on all levels physically with all her grandchildren which 20 years ago I really couldn’t imagine being possible for her.

For me personally it’s shows me how Indian herbs and spices have a far greater purpose deeper than just cooking that’s existed for 1000’s of years.

I use tumeric in as many recipes as possible to ensure my 2 young boys also have it in their diets as much as possible.

Try maybe using in scrambled eggs even? Just a pinch so not to over power the flavour but it gives an lovely colour to the eggs.  

Tumeric is my super spice hero…

Preeti ❤️