Anncouncing Think Spice: Think Turmeric event

October Monthly Round and Event Announcement

2 November 2009 1,871 views 30 Comments

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October was a month of festivities. October brought in the Goddess Durga back to her father’s home in a four day festivity with loads of pomp and grandeur. Then came the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. Lakshmi is worshiped in every household on the Purnima (full moon night) of the month of Ashwin. Just a few days after was the time for Diwali and Kali Puja. Cracking fireworks and lighting the oil lamps is an integral part of this festival. I celebrated Diwali in Bangalore this time. With all these festivities, Cook Like a Bong had only 5 posts for this month including 4 authentic Bengali recipes.

October Roundup_Compressed

Here’s a summary of activities last month at the blog.

We also took part in some of the ongoing events for this month:

Priya’s event Diwali 2009 Contest
Diwali Dhamaka hosted by Purva
And Radhika’s Cook For Yourself event

We are also co-hosting the 7-stages of life event at Radhika’s blog.

In the month of November we are very glad to host the Think Spice event, the brain child of Sunita of Sunita’s World fame. This month’s theme is Turmeric, so it’s Think Spice: Think Turmeric.

Turmeric is a spice had been grown in India since 3000 B.C. It grows in the hot and humid climate and so the climate of South-Eastern Asia is most suited for the cultivation of turmeric, though it is grown widely in different parts of the world. It is cultivated primarily in Bengal, China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Java, Peru, Australia and the West Indies. It is almost impossible to imagine an Indian delicacy (other than desserts) without turmeric. This spice has been widely used in various cuisines also all over the world. When Sunita asked me choose the spice for this event, it was very simple to choose, the most widely used spice of this sub-continent was not in the list of the previous hosts and so I chose Turmeric or haldi.

Some health facts about turmeric:

Turmeric is a known antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic agent.
Turmeric stimulates digestion, supports the liver, and reduces intestinal permeability.
It is taken in some Asian countries as a dietary supplement, which helps in stomach problems and other ailments.
Curcumin slows the development and growth of a number of types of cancer including prostate cancer. Turmeric may also slow the rate at which hormone-responsive prostate cancer becomes resistant to hormonal therapy.
It is also a good source of Vitamin C and Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Iron, Potassium and Manganese.

Other names:

Indian: haldi, halud, arishina, pasupu, manjal
French: curcuma, saffron des Indes
German: Gelbwurz
Italian; curcuma
Spanish: curcuma
Arabic: kharkoum
Burmese: fa nwin
Chinese: wong geung fun
Indian: haldee, haldi, huldee, huldie
Indonesian: kunjit, kunyit
Malay: kunjit
Sinhalese: kaha
Tamil: munjal
Thai: kamin

The rules for this event are very simple, prepare anything (vegetarian or non-vegetarian) with turmeric in it and send your entry to bengalicuisine@gmail.com with the subject line as “Think Spice: Think Turmeric”.

You can also send in your older archived posts for the event just update the post with the link to this event (you need not repost the old post) and also a link to Sunita’s blog.

Please also add the following details in the mail:

Your Name:
Your Blog Name:
Name of the Dish:
Link/URL of the Post:
Attach a Picture of the Dish. Size 300 x 300.

Please feel free to use this logo.

The deadline for the event is November 30, 2009 12 midnight at your time zone.

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