Hello friends
In today's video we're gonna see how to grow Turmeric
Turmeric is produced in the Curcuma Longa plant
And is a very unique spice as you will see
Turmeric is one of my favorite plants to grow
Not only because its so easy to grow them
The nutritional profile of Turmeric is just excellent
Its a superfood and it has medicinal qualities that you might not have even heard of
And we'll soon see that in the later sections of the video
And I just want to mention that I'm not making any claims
Of how good turmeric is
But there have been a lot of studies conducted on turmeric
That show that it has a lot of medicinal properties
So how do you start Turmeric?
What you see here is a small portion of Turmeric
That's easily available in a lot of Asian grocery stores
And what you do is just plant them in a small pot to start
And turmeric usually grows in the summer season
So you might see the plant sprouting out somewhere around June in the state of California
And then they go on to grow till winter sets in
So once you've planted Turmeric, you can move them to a bigger pot
And as soon as you move them to a bigger pot or bigger container
They will start growing tubers all around the container
And as you can see here, we have one plant growing
And it has already started sending out a lot of small offshoots
Or tubers around it
And that's what is going to give you a lot of turmeric
Now growing turmeric is just so easy
All you do is provide it some good soil
You do not need any fertilizers to grow turmeric
Its very fast growing very prolific plant
And as long as you have decent temperatures
You shouldn't have a problem growing the turmeric plant
Now this turmeric plant is ready for harvest
It usually takes about 4 months or so to harvest turmeric
Now I know a lot of you might not be really familiar with what Turmeric is
So while we are harvesting this turmeric plant
Let's talk a little bit about turmeric
Turmeric has a peppery warm and bitter flavor
So flavor wise you could think of it as a cross between orange and ginger
That's how it tastes like
Its one of the necessary ingredients used to make curry
Various types of curries
Now let's talk a little bit about the medicinal properties of turmeric
Because that's what fascinates me the most
Now there have been a lot of studies conducted
So I'm just citing you what the studies have confirmed
I'm not making any claims
I'm not tied to the turmeric industry in any regard
Now what makes Turmeric very unique is that it contains a compound which is called curcumin
Now curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric
It is a powerful anti-inflammatory ingredient
It has antioxidant effects
Now I'm not gonna talk a lot about antioxidants because that is a totally separate topic for
discussion
And the anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric means that
Its very similar to drugs like Motrin that cause relief from muscular pain
And act as anti-inflammatory ingredient when you consume them
The best thing about turmeric and curcumin is that although its toxic to a lot of bacteria
and viruses
Its not toxic to human beings at all
And that's what really makes turmeric a very unique food that exists in the world today
So there have been studies conducted which have proven that turmeric in combination with
some foods
Is actually very effective in curing some diseases
So for example turmeric and onions may help prevent colon cancers
Turmeric with cauliflower may help prevent prostrate cancer
Turmeric is known to reduce the risk of childhood Leukemia
It improves liver function
It improves cardiovascular function
And is also known to provide protection against Alzheimer's disease
And remember that although a lot of claims have been made against what turmeric does
And what curcumin, which is an ingredient in turmeric does
Try it out for yourself
Next time you have a sore throat, instead of reaching out for an over-the-counter medicine
Just take some warm milk and add a couple of spoons of turmeric powder in it and drink
it slowly
Just before you sleep
And see if it makes a difference the next day when you wake up
I'm sure you're gonna feel a lot relieved after having the turmeric and warm milk the
night prior
The Indians and the Chinese have been using turmeric for a long time as a medicine
For a lot of home remedies
For example for cuts and burns
They just use to mix turmeric in water and create a paste
And then apply it on the cuts or the burns
And that would cure the cuts and the burns very effectively
So know that you know all the good part about turmeric
How do you use it?
The most popular way of using turmeric is as a dry spice
The dry Turmeric powder is available in a lot of grocery stores
If you grow your own turmeric, you can also make your own turmeric powder at home
You can add it to omelets to give it a deep yellow color
You can use it in curry powder when preparing vegetables
Like cauliflower, green beans, onions, peppers, broccoli
Watch for a recipe at the end of the video
Turmeric is also a great spice to complement any recipe that features lentils
And the recipe that I will be sharing with you at the end of the video
Is a cauliflower peas recipe which can be made with turmeric
It tastes delicious and its really good for your health
So our harvest is now completed
Its very easy to harvest the turmeric as you saw here
And this is how it looks like once the turmeric has been harvested
You still need to clean them
Remove all the roots that are attached to these tubers
And then you're all set
So our turmeric now is washed and all ready to be used
Now the best way to enjoy fresh turmeric is to add them in smoothies
You can just toss them in with your fruit smoothies
It might take some time for you to get used to the turmeric taste
But its really good for your heath
Now what is also interesting is what you can do with Turmeric leaves
Turmeric leaves have a very unique flavor
So what you do with the leaves is that you can roll up the leaves
Just like that put your filling right there, roll it up
And you can just steam your filling
And the turmeric leaf is going to impart it a nice flavor
So do try it out
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