At the root of good health: Fresh Turmeric, Ginger Pickle

Fresh Turmeric root has many medically proven benefits. From the dreaded Cancer, Alzheimer's, Rheumatic Arthritis, IBS to common ailments like influenza, cough/cold to asthma.

Yesterday, on a food forum a poster asked why turmeric was used to boil meat? The answer is that Turmeric has anti microbial properties which are said to kill several strains of microbes like salmonella and candida that tend to spoil non refrigerated foods.

This is a "fresh" pickle my Mom made whenever there was a profusion of fresh turmeric root at the green grocer. In SEA it's fairly easy to find fresh turmeric root at most vegetable vendors, and we often found it at most East Indian/Chinese grocers in the US.

Here is the recipe for an easy pickle, crunchy and tangy! Since the recipe uses no oil or vinegar, this pickle is best to stored in the fridge or it losses its tartness and crunchy bite. 

I make a cold (cooked)millet salad with tomatoes, sliced onion and couple of generous spoons of the pickle. Sometimes I eat it with dosa/idli, or tossed with boiled pasta, or as a topping to my sub style sandwich.

Turmeric ginger chilli pickle

Ingredients

1 cup turmeric root, peeled and sliced

1/4 ginger, peeled and finely chopped

5 green chillies, chopped

Juice of 2 large limes

Salt to taste

Method

Mix the turmeric, ginger and green chillies with salt and lime juice. Store in a recycled glass jar.