Turmeric Powder

Turmeric is the root of a plant in the ginger family, boiled, dried and ground to a fine yellow powder. It goes into dal, sabzi, sambar, fish curries and pickles, usually half a teaspoon or less, and it gives rice and potatoes their familiar colour. Sri Lankan cooks, who call it kaha, add it to almost every white or yellow curry and rub it with salt onto fish before frying.

Good turmeric powder is bright orange yellow and smells warm and slightly peppery, never musty. Some packs name the variety, such as Rajapuri, which is known for its deep colour. If you cook dal or curry daily, a larger bag is sensible, as turmeric keeps better than most powders. For the whole dried root, used in pickles and home-ground masalas, look in herbal spices.

Turmeric stains, so use a dry spoon and wipe spills from worktops straight away. Cook it in oil for a few seconds so it loses its raw, dusty taste, but do not let it darken. It sits with chilli powder and coriander powder among the ground spices, the three that start most curries between them.