The season of summer, as much as we lament about the heat, plays a pivotal role in the life of the planet. It’s also a time that is spent taking full advantage of the intense summer rays. This is when the ladies of the house took pride in their pickling and preservation skills which would then be tucked away into large containers in the storeroom for the family to feast on for the rest of the year.
The season of summer, as much as we lament about the heat, plays a pivotal role in the life of the planet. It’s also a time that is spent taking full advantage of the intense summer rays. This is when the ladies of the house took pride in their pickling and preservation skills which would then be tucked away into large containers in the storeroom for the family to feast on for the rest of the year.
To this day my home receives a profusion of pickles in the summer months. The irony is that while this indeed is the pickling season, it is not however the season to eat pickles. The heat and the spice are not what is meant for the well-being of the body during this time of year.
Being part of a family that loves a bite of the crisp vadu maanga urugai to go with the summer staple curd rice, it’s quite a task to prevent them from indulging their ‘pickle tastebuds’. That got me thinking. What other options could one offer as a spicy accompaniment that will not raise the core body temperature.
One of the ingredients I was quite eager to experiment with was the fresh turmeric root. A close relative of ours had made a side dish using a simple pickling solution comprising of lemon juice and salt to which was added fresh turmeric root slivers.
The intense colour of that vibrant beta carotene like hue attracts instantly. On first glance I actually fooled myself into thinking that it was indeed a carrot pickle.
The sharp taste of the raw turmeric tastes absolutely wonderful alongside the sour notes of lemon, rock salt and spicy undertones of fresh green chillies. Once this mixture is left out in direct sunlight for a good 4-5 hours it can then be spooned into sterile glass bottles for storage. Having tasted this a year and a half ago, it is now a much favoured accompaniment for summer. It led me to wonder why such a traditional recipe has almost disappeared from our repertoire of daily foods!
While turmeric in the powder form makes for an important spice additive to most of our Indian dishes, the idea of it being edible in it’s fresh state is sadly uncommon. That’s rather surprising considering that most of the turmeric available in the world is in fact grown in India.
Turmeric lattes have caught on with increasing popularity in the west. When had with a dash of crushed black pepper in hot milk, it’s said to elevate the anti-oxidant properties to it’s optimum level. Now if only we had known that we wouldn’t have subjected our parents to such hardships just to drink a glass of the famous manjathul kurumilagu paal (haldi dudh)!
It’s not just the lattes, people from all parts of the globe are talking about the health advantages of having curcumin in their diets. Curcumin is a bright yellow plant based chemical that is primarily found in the turmeric rhizome. It has proven to be anti-inflammatory, anti-ageing, anti-depressant, neutralises free radicals and also enhances the body’s own anti-oxidant fighting capacity. So, you see, it’s not just the colour that makes it so attractive, it is a powerhouse of health boosters.
Again the convenience of supermarket browsing has far removed most consumers from the source of such resistance building foods. Turmeric is easy to grow in the comfort of our own homes or gated communities.
Imagine the visual of harvesting your own turmeric and freshly grating it over a bowl of warm paneer burji. If you’re a fan of smoothies add a slice of peeled turmeric to the rest of the ingredients in the blender… ginger and turmeric kulfi, grated turmeric and coconut rice or how about a honey, lemon, turmeric marinade? They all sound delicious to me.
Make a start by identifying a supplier for raw turmeric and give this easy summer pickle recipe a try! My menu for today includes a fresh turmeric root and leaf flavoured rasam… keeps that summer cold at bay.