Cooking with Turmeric Powder in Three Ways: Sweet, Savoury and Beverage
Turmeric Powder, one of the most popular herbs in India, is better known more for its beautiful golden colour than its slightly bitter taste. With plethora of health benefits, the spice is a rich source of antioxidants and with anti-inflammatory property; its active compound curcumin is packed with plenty of such incredible health benefits. Besides being a rich medicinal source, Turmeric powder is an extremely versatile spice that can be eaten sweet as well as savoury with great delight. Although found in its raw form, its dried powdered version is most commonly used and available in the market. The raw turmeric is like fresh ginger in texture with papery skin and interior flesh in orange colour as compared to its electric yellow colour of dried version.
With its distinct earthy, slightly pungent and bitter taste, it works perfectly well with savoury dishes while serves as a great addition to sweet delicacies offering them notes of earthiness. Another version where turmeric has been quite popular, at least in India since ages is in warm drinks, especially turmeric milk that offers ample health benefits.
Let us take a dive in to the culinary world of turmeric and see how to include it in your diet as sweet treats, savoury meals and delish and healthy beverages.
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Savoury Cooking with Turmeric
Turmeric, apart from adding to the nutritional value and health benefits to the food provides beautiful golden colour adding to the visual appeal. Its addition to daals, paneer dish, rice dish, vegetable curries, dried vegetable dishes take the dishes a notch up in taste and colour. Punjabi kadi pakoda is one of a recipe that is healthy and incomplete without addition of haldi or turmeric powder.
Ingredients
- 3 cup Yogurt, preferably sour
- 1 cup Besan or Gram Flour
- 1 tsp Cee Pee Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Cee Pee Red Chilli Powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Cee Pee Garam Masala
- 2 tbsp Cooking oil
- ½ tsp Cee Pee Hing
- 6 Cups Water
- 2 tsp Cee Pee Mustard Seeds
- 4-5 Whole Red Chilli
For Tempering
- 1 tbsp Ghee or Clarified Butter
- 1 tsp Cee Pee Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
For the Pakoras
- 1 cup Besan/Gram Flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ cup Cooking oil
Method
- In a large bowl or kadai, mix all the dry ingredients including besan, turmeric, garam masala, chilli powder and salt.
- Slowly and gradually, add curd to the mixture to form a smooth paste. Add water and mix properly.
- In a kadai or a large pan, heat oil and add hing, mustard seeds and whole red chillies.
- When mustard seeds begin to splutter, add the curd and besan mixture and bring it to boil.
- Simmer it over low flame until it thickens and raw taste of besan is gone.
Prepare pakoras
- Mix all the required ingredients in a bowl enlisted above to form a smooth batter with the help of water. Consistency should be little thick. Keep aside the batter and rest it for around 15 minutes.
- In a frying pan, heat oil.
- Beat the pakora batter until it becomes light and fluffy. Drop a spoonful of batter in hot oil.
- Reduce the flame to medium and fry until they fluff up and turn golden brown evenly.
- Repeat the process and drop the pakoras in kadi. Let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes until they become soft and succulent.
- Heat ghee, add red chilli powder to it, and pour over kadi just before serving. Serve it peeping hot with rice.
Sweet Treat with Turmeric
Sweets are essential part of Indian culture, prepared for every occasion and celebration. Made with besan, ghee, sugar and turmeric powder, its simple ingredients make it easy and scrumptious handmade Indian dessert.
Ingredients
- 2 cup Besan or Gram Flour
- 2/3 cup Ghee or Clarified Butter
- 1 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Water
- ¼ tsp Cee Pee Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Cardamom Powder
Method
- Keep a heavy bottom pan or kadai on low flame and add besan to it.
- Roast the besan on low flame stirring constantly.
- After about 2minutes, when besan is roasted, add ghee. Make sure to add it in batches. Begin with adding 1/3 part of ghee while keeping the flame low. Keep stirring.
- Add next 1/3 part of ghee after 5 minutes. Mix it properly and keep stirring while besan is being roasted.
- Add the last part of the remaining ghee. Mix it and repeat the process.
- Bsean will slowly begin changing the colour by now. It is important to stir the mixture continuously, so that lumps are not formed and besan is evenly roasted.
- The mixture is roasted when it becomes slightly runny in texture and releases some ghee.
- It is time to add haldi that provides beautiful golden yellow hue to the mixture. Mix it well.
- Once besan is completely roasted and nice golden colour, turn off the flame, keep the pan aside, and allow it to cool. Keep stirring the besan after you take off the flame, as pan is still hot and besan may burn.
- It takes around 20-25 minutes to roast the besan completely.
- For sugar syrup, in a heavy bottm pan add sugar and water and mix them properly. Start dissolving sugar before turning on the flame.
- Cook the sugar and water solution on medium flame. Add cardamom powder to it and cook it for another 6 to 7 minutes on medium low flame. The sugar syrup should be not too thin and not too thick. Its consistency should be sticky and should not reach one string consistency.
- Mix the besan mixture and sugar syrup when both are slightly warm. Mix them thoroughly and pour the mixture in a greased pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts of your choice.
- Keep it aside and let it set hard. Cut it into small pieces and enjoy homemade haldi besan ki burfi.
Drink with Turmeric
Spice up your milk with turmeric or prepare tea with it or some healthy decoction, it is one of the emerging flavours with many health benefits. One of the recipe to take up this season is detox turmeric tea that is easy to prepare and offers plenty of benefits.
Detoxifying Haldi Tea
Ingredients
- 2 cups Water
- 1 tsp Honey
- ½ tsp Cee Pee Haldi
- ¼ tsp Cee PeeBlack pepper powder
- ½ tsp ginger, chopped
Method
- In a pan, heat water on medium flame.
- Add all the ingredients and let it simmer on low flame.
- Mix it well and bring it to boil. Keep boiling it until reduces to half.
- Serve hot.
Be it improving immunity or aiding digestion, turmeric has always been a part of Indian households, be it for its medicinal values or gastronomic uses. Even today, it is an essential part of our kitchens many recipes across various cuisines of India. To reap all the benefits of this bright yellow spice, Cee Pee presents best turmeric powder that is 100 percent pure and hygienically packed. Our organic turmeric powder price is most economical while imparting a delish flavour and stunning colours to your meal. Now you can buy our turmeric powder online at convenience of your home at various online platforms including Grofers, Bigbasket and Amazon.