My Spice Discovery Adventure took me up into a remote part of Idukki in Central Kerala, to visit a community of Tribal Farmers growing Organic Spices that we are sourcing for our Spice Fans. These are my reflections on visiting a beautiful, lush and fertile forest area, the people I met there and what it means for the quality of our Organic Spices. 

The Spice Adventurer's reflections on sourcing Organic Spices from the Tribal Areas of Kerala from Tim Ellis on Vimeo.

Here I am chatting with Roy CK who manages the Quality Assurance at the processing factory in Kerala. Get an insight into the tests and processes that these organic spices go through before shipment - to ensure the highest quality.

Spice Origin's India Processing Facility - Quality Assurance from Tim Ellis on Vimeo.

On my travels in India to the Origins of our Spices, I ventured up into the Idukki Forest Reserve where there are a number of Tribal Farmers growing spices like Turmeric, Pepper & Ginger. Spending time with Raman, one of these farmers, was a real eye opener when it came to understanding what is really important when we look at the quality of a product like Turmeric. Our contemporary need to connect to the source sees us engaging with ancient traditional and simple wisdom. Have we made life too complicated...? 

Harvesting Organic Turmeric in the Tribal Areas of Kerala from Tim Ellis on Vimeo.

Spending time with Tomychan Varghese, one of our organic Turmeric farmers in India, it became clear that the investment that he had made in developing his soil organically for the past 18 years, was having a big input on the quality of the Turmeric that he is harvesting. We found a gap in the rainstorms to record this piece to camera showcasing the quality of the soils that our organic Turmeric is grown in.

Growing Organic Turmeric - Importance of the soil from Tim Ellis on Vimeo.

Golden Paste is a common method for consuming Turmeric. This recipe is thanks to the Turmeric User Group on Facebook who provide one of the most comprehensive resources on all things Turmeric on the internet!

Follow this easy recipe to make your own Golden Paste. 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup turmeric powder (125 mls) – Use organic powder. 
1 cup water (250 mls) 
1/2 cup water extra, if needed (125 mls) 
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper (7.5 mls) – We need this as turmeric is absorbed poorly in body. Piperine present in black pepper helps in its absorption. 
70 ml cold pressed Olive or Coconut oil – Adding fats is another way to increase the absorption of turmeric in body. Chose healthy oils such as virgin coconut or virgin olive oil. 
  
Method:
  
Add turmeric to water in a pan. Heat gently along with stirring. Do this till you get a thick paste.  This can take anything from 6 to 10 min.  If you feel your paste is watery, add some more turmeric if you feel it has become too thick, add some water. 

At the end — add the pepper and oil.  Keep stirring to ensure that all ingredients are mixed properly. 

Allow it to cool.  One great thing about this paste is you can keep it in a jar and refrigerate it. This will ensure you can make it once and use for a few days.  Opinions vary on how long we can keep the jar, in my opinion 1-2 weeks is okay. Not more than that. 
  
Notes:

• If you don’t like the taste, you can add it to smoothies or milk (Golden Milk), or mix with scrambled eggs.  Add to salad dressings or throw into soups etc. 
• Much better to take small amounts regularly – i.e. a ¼ teaspoon 3 or 4 times a day rather than 1 teaspoon once a day.  
• One of the issues with Turmeric is its ‘bioavailability’.  How much is your body actually able to absorb.  The Piperine in Black Pepper seems to aid this (see here for more info) as do good quality cold pressed fats (i.e. coconut oil)
• Do NOT add honey or sugars to Golden Paste which are natural inflammatories and therefore counter the anti-inflammatory benefits of Turmeric.
• Turmeric and Golden Paste stain. So mop up any mess asap and use utensils you do not mind sacrificing for the cause!