Monday 12 September 2016

Growing Yellow Ginger Or Turmeric In My Garden.

I started growing yellow ginger or tumeric plants because it is good to have the leaves available as a cooking ingredient anytime whenever it is needed. I usually need about 3 to 4 leaves only, It will be very convenient if I could get them from my garden without having to drive all the way to the main wet market in Ipoh for the leaves. It is especially so whenever I wanted to cook chicken or beef rendang (a Malay dish). Yellow ginger or turmeric is known as kunyit in Malay. 
I started with a few yellow ginger roots or rhizomes. I grow them in a shallow pot.
The shorter plants surrounding the yellow ginger plants are the common plantain. They are harvested for boiling herbal drink.
The fresh leaves are cut into fine strips and added to the rendang dish for its aroma. I took this photo under the hot sun, so the leaves are a bit curled up.
Most homes will have these useful yellow ginger plants growing in their backyard, garden or in pots.
I harvested the first batch of yellow ginger grown in a pot from my garden. Yellow ginger roots/rhizomes are used both in the fresh form or in dried powdered form as an ingredient in some Asian dishes. They are also used for their health or medicinal benefits which you can read about in the internet. 
These were from the first harvest. I used the pounded fresh roots/rhizomes to marinate cut chicken pieces or fishes for deep frying. Fresh or powdered form are also used for cooking yellow glutinous rice and meat curry dishes. When working with yellow ginger roots/rhizomes, it is better to wear gloves and careful of your clothes to prevent staining your hands and clothes.

But you must be careful not to brag about being put in
to replace the branches that were broken off.
Remember that you are important only because
you are now a part of God's tree;
you are just a branch, not a root.
(Romans 11:18, The Living Bible-TLB)

61 comments:

  1. Never thought of planting turmeric. Not using it that often in my cooking.

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    1. I don't use it often except for rendang dishes and deep fried turmeric chicken which I love very much.

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  2. Hello, that is nice to grow ginger and the tumeric. I love ginger. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. We consume a lot of ginger. Have a happy day!

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  3. Hah ..what a coincidence, Nancy! I have harvested my turmeric and it recently went into a pork curry...!

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    Replies
    1. I am thinking of cooking a rendang dish. Its been a long time since I cooked one.

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  4. Magnifico estas plantas no jardim particular com raízes valiosas.
    Um abraço e boa semana.
    Andarilhar

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  5. Replies
    1. From the garden to the kitchen! Have a great day!

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  6. I've always thought a kitchen garden would be so nice and handy.
    This verse..(it's always the first thing I look at in your posts)...
    to me, it is telling me to never take myself seriously to the point of loving my own self more than others (the branches and roots)..HE is the Root...we are the branches...is this how you read it?

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    Replies
    1. thank you, BJ. Yes, He is the Root and we are the branches. Have a fantastic day!

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  7. Fantastic post, dear! I'd love to have a garden one day, I want to grow garlic :)
    Hugs,
    LIANA LAURIE

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  8. You eat so very well and you have an amazing green thumb.

    Have a terrific day Nancy. ☺

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    1. Thank you, Sandee. One of my hobby is eating and gardening is also one of my hobbies. Have a beautiful day!

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  9. Good for you, Nancy. Very useful for your cooking!
    Have a lovely week.

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    1. Thank you, Christine. Have a lovely week too!

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  10. Good harvest :) I planted them with the same reasons like you..convenience..I prefer to plant them in black bag for easy harvest :)

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    1. I plant them in shallow pots, so no problem in harvesting. Have a great day!

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  11. I grew ginger in South Africa but it does not do well here even in the greenhouse. I have never tried Turmeric though I use it a lot in cooking. Have a good week Diane

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    1. From my experience: it needs secondary sunlight. Keep it away from direct sunlight by all means.

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    2. Thank you, Diane. Have a good week too!

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    3. Thank you, Chuah for the useful information. Have a lovely day!

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  12. Oh My goodness... Hubby and I take Turmeric (for our health) every single morning... I had never seen its root/plant... How interesting and how pretty.. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  13. I am impressed! They are so good for your health too! Plus making tea, putting into so many things.

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  14. Well done you - and so good for your health too.

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  15. Really interesting post...thx for sharing! xx

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  16. Replies
    1. Thank you, William. Not always successful, some don't do well.

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  17. Nancy I'm envious of your green thumb. :-)

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    Replies
    1. It is not always a success story. Have a nice day!

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  18. Any chance to try your chicken or beef rendang when i go Ipoh, wink wink hint hint, haha...

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    Replies
    1. Sharon, wait till you come to Ipoh first. Many things for you to try here in Ipoh!

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  19. I like to eat chicken kunyit. So handy to grow them in your garden. Good for you!

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  20. Nancy, you are right. It is useful to have turmeric available in the garden. It's quite hard to get fresh supply from the supermarket.

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    Replies
    1. Most of the time the yellow ginger dried out in my fridge. If from my garden, it will fresh!

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  21. Nancy, I would love to grow tumeric like you, but I don't think it is suitable with our climate. On the other hand, there's lots of the plantain plants that grows freely in our garden...I'm now curious how you use them as herbal tea?

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    1. Thank you, Annie. You can read how I use the plantain plants in this post at https://chingchailah.blogspot.my/2015/02/herb-plantago-major-or-common-plantain.html

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  22. My favourite plants, turmeric and ginger, as they are not very demanding.

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    1. Thank you, Chuah. Yes, they are low maintenance. Have a good day!

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  23. Thank you, dear. Have a beautiful day!

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  24. What a wonderful harvest. I generally buy powdered turmeric and ginger but such a great idea to grow your own.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Mamas. If we can, we prefer the fresh ones. Have a great day!

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  25. Arggh there is so much ROOT to cut off.

    If you're using the leaves of the turmeric then ok, I see a point in planting. I'm on the verge of killing off my ginger plant as it produces so little ginger yield after leaving it for many months.

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    Replies
    1. The main reason is for the leaves and then later can harvest the rhizomes.

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  26. Thank you for sharing, great post!

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