Vegan DIY: Make Your Own Turmeric Powder

Turmeric is highly regarded for its anti-inflammatory compounds. It has a warm, spicy and bitter flavor that takes a while to get used to. It comes from the root of Curcuma longa, which is a relative of ginger. It is widely used in both Indian and Chinese traditional medicine because of its healing properties.

It is a good source of iron, manganese, copper and Vitamin B6. It is prized more for its natural compound called curcumin that is its primary pharmacological agent. It is known to cure different maladies like digestion problems and cystic fibrosis. Studies also indicate that turmeric also reduces the risk of cancer and it can also inhibit the metastasis of cancer cells.

I have a habit of drinking turmeric tea every morning. My relationship with turmeric before was a combination of love and hate.  In fact, I wasn’t a big fan of turmeric tea the first time I tried it. I abhor its taste and I don’t like the thought of drinking a vile concoction just to reap its health benefits.

But ever since I planted turmeric in my garden, I learned how to love this super root. I have to! Otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do with all my harvests. Hahaha!

This plant grows well in the tropics and I have several planted in my garden. I have already harvested turmeric several times in the past and have used it to make my own herbal tea. As a poor vegan,  I don’t like the idea of buying the expensive powder from the grocery store. Thus, I decide to grow and make my own turmeric powder from scratch.

Making your own turmeric powder is a messy affair. There are no standard steps to making your own. Instead, I like to list down tips of making the powder so that you will have a mess-free kitchen and clean hands to boot.

• Clean the harvested roots and remove traces of soil and dirt on them. Pat them dry or allow them to air dry on the counter for a few hours.
• Slice the turmeric thinly so that they will easily dry up under the sun. Use gloves to avoid dying your hands yellow. If you don’t like using disposable gloves like I do, then use your hands by all means. In any case, the yellow stain will eventually go away after a few days as long as you wash your hands frequently.
• Use a ceramic plate when slicing the turmeric to prevent messy stains on your chopping board. I find using the ceramic plate crude but cleaning up the mess is really easy.
• No dehydrator? No problem! Place all sliced turmeric on a baking tray and look for an undisturbed spot in your garden that gets a lot of sun. Use solar power to dry your turmeric. If you are worried about foreign particles getting on to the turmeric, place a mesh cloth over them. That should prevent dusts and other particles from getting on the turmeric.
• Once they are dry, pop them inside a 175-degree Celsius preheated oven for about 15 minutes just to sanitize them and also to draw out their natural oil.
• Use a blender or a coffee grinder to grind your turmeric.
•  Store in a clean bottle with the right label. Keep the bottle in a cool, dark and dry place.

Drinking turmeric tea is simple. Some people try to improve its flavor by adding sugar or honey but since I try to avoid all forms of sweeteners except those naturally occurring in fruits, I have to take my turmeric plain or add other ingredients.

I often take my turmeric with crushed mint leaves and moringa powder. Drinking turmeric tea grows on you. At first,  I cannot say that it is delicious but as I kept on drinking this concoction every day, it seemed nice. Not delicious – just nice!

Making your own turmeric powder is a fun activity. I especially love the oven and grinding part because my kitchen would smell like peppers and oranges all at the same time. Enjoy drinking!


XOXO,

Ang Pobreng Vegan

Vegan DIY: Making Your Own Mung Bean Sprouts

This is how your pot should look like
after two days.

Sprouting your own seeds is a necessary skill if you really want to become a sustainable vegan. Sprouting is not rocket science and anyone can do it. But why should you eat sprouts? Sprouts contain a lot of enzymes than most uncooked fruits and vegetables. It is also a good source of protein which vegans like me need in order to prevent our muscles from wasting. The process of sprouting also breaks down the seed which means that the digestive system has less work thus making it a great food for people who have gut problems.

You can buy ready-to-eat sprouts in the wet market but there is a higher risk of contamination due to improper food handling. Personally, I enjoy making my own sprouts because I know that that they are clean and I can munch on them raw.  I can also make sure that the environment where my sprouts grow us clean so I know that it is safe to eat them. I use clean water and make sure to drain it constantly.

There are many techniques on how to sprout your seeds. And the technique varies depending on what seeds you want to sprout. For this tutorial, I will focus more on sprouting mung beans.  I tried sprouting mung beans in the past but was never really successful. I tried the usual method of soaking them in a bowl full of water but after a day, it emitted a foul smell. Even replacing the water did not help remove the odor so, in the end, I have to throw everything out. Well, the technique that I am about to share with you is a no-brainer that when I discovered it, I had this now-why-haven’t-I-thought-about-it-before moment. Below are the steps on how to sprout mung beans fool-proof.

1.)    Clean mung beans and remove the dirt and other debris.

2.)    Soak the mung beans in a bowl of water and leave it at room temperature overnight.

3.)   Drain the liquid the next day and transfer the contents to a clean pot lined with a clean cloth at the bottom.

4.)    Set the pot on top of a bowl. The bowl will catch the water dripping from the pot so that it does not stagnate on the bottom of the pot.

5.)    Pour water over the pot every two hours and drain the water that has collected inside the bowl.

6.)    Cover the pot using a clean cloth (I used a clean pillow case for my mung beans).

7.)    Make sure that the mung beans are always moist and that the liquid in the bowl are always discarded.

8.)  Let your mung beans grow until it grows to a 1 to ½ inch long. It can take 24 hours or longer for the mung beans to germinate depending on where you live. Here in the tropics, it will only take 24 to 48 hours for the beans to sprout to the desired length.

9.)    Clean the sprouts and remove the seed coat.

10.) Store in the fridge until further use.

There you have it. Making sprouts is easy (and hygienic, too!) and you can make your own whenever you need them.

XOXO, 

Ang Pobreng Vegan