Cooking with turmeric

I keep reading posts about people taking supplements for certain spices (I'm not against it nor is there anything wrong with it, so I hope I'm not offending anyone).  I grew up in South Africa and we eat lots of different kinds of foods. The most common type of cooking we do, is Cape Malay cooking. No, I'm not muslim, but our food have a strong middle eastern, south east asian influence and this is traditional food for Colored (people of mixed race are called Colored [not the same as black] and is actually a separate race) Capetonians. We cook with lots of fresh herbs & spices, so I thought I'd share my favorite turmeric recipe in case anyone is interested in replacing their supplements with a meal or side dish or use it as an alternative for when you run out of supplements.

Yellow rice

1 Cup rice (white, whole grain or basmati)

2.5 cups water

Raisins (alternative)

1/4 Tsp ground or stick cinnamon (alternative)

Add everything to pot or rice cooker and cook as you normally would cook you rice.

This is a rice dish that can be eaten with different types of meat & seafood. We eat rice with most meals. Another favorite we like to eat it with, is Bobotie (which also contains turmeric). 

I don't measure, because I've been cooking since I was about 12 and just eyeball it. I figure these measurements will help those who aren't familiar with this dish. You can adjust measurements to suit your needs/taste.

This is how we traditionally cook & eat it. People have started making different variations of this rice dish, by adding garlic & peppers or curry powder to it. I stick to the raisin one, because we also have a rice dish called Savory Rice that we add garlic, peppers & mixed veggies to (no turmeric, because a different seasoning is used. Spice for Rice. Yes we actually have a spice especially for rice..lol) However, you can add turmeric to the Savory Rice dish too.

Also, if you like Indian food, try cooking Indian curry or biryani. They both contain turmeric. Turmeric not only adds flavor, but it also adds the yellow color to a dish.

A funny story. The first time I made curry (this was the time before the internet and we didn't keep recipe books. Recipes were just passed down from one generation to the next), I asked my neighbor which spices I needed to use. She gave me a list and I went home to cook the curry before my parents got home from work. Well my food just didn't seem to get that yellow color, so I kept adding curry powder. I never tasted the food though. So when it was time to eat, the curry was so strong that nobody could eat. Needless to say, my mother was NOT happy with me, because she had to make a meal from scratch again. Oh boy. I know better now. Add turmeric for color...lol

I just realised I gave you all a recipe & history lesson all in one...lol The racial term used above is in no way meant as a derogatory term (it's not considered derogatory in South Africa). I'm just trying to explain about my heritage.