Turmeric harvest and making organic turmeric powder

With my first turmeric harvest, I thought I would experiment a little with drying and making my own powder as a way to extend the shelf life of the glut. Turmeric powder is a lot more pungent than the raw stuff too, and it is handy to have a ready supply on hand when cooking. Yes, it is not expensive to buy the powder from Indian grocers, but that is not the point! Growing your own organic food is far more rewarding, in my opinion.

See how I did it – in pictures – below!

1. Harvest

I dug out the whole plant, and picked off any dead or dying leaves. I snapped off the best looking rhizomes and left quite a few on the plant to replant for next season. I washed and dried the turmeric on newspaper.

2. Drying

The rhizomes needed to be dehydrated and found for best results, cutting each rhizome in half will speed up the process. You know they’re dry when they feel light like a husk, and you should be able to snap them like a biscuit. They will look very similar to the picture below. I decided not to boil the rhizomes and dried them raw with skins on.

3. Grinding

I had an old coffee grinder lying around which I used to pulverise and grind the rhizomes into a powder. I did small batches and transferred each into a sieve over a bowl (step 4), and i then put the larger pieces back into the grinder again.

4. Sieve

As in the previous step, I used a regular flour sieve to filter out the larger pieces, which were then ground down again. Note that the powder will be a lot more coarse than the stuff you buy from the shops, but at least you know it is fresh, organic, and authentic!

5. Jar

It is important that you find an airtight container, preferably a jar as turmeric will stain plastic (actually it will stain almost anything including your bench tops, but glass is ok). It needs to be airtight and dry to prevent mould from growing, especially if you live in a humid climate like Brisbane. If you are particularly concerned about mould, you can add uncooked rice into the jar which is a natural desiccant.