Fresh Ginger & Turmeric root Relish with Green Chili peppers

My father used to love this relish on the side with Indian meals. You can make this only with fresh ginger root, or only with fresh Turmeric root or mix them for a different taste.

I did not have fresh turmeric so this time I prepared this with ginger. I also added fresh Serrano peppers slit lengthwise with this, but you can omit the peppers if you don't want the relish to be spicy. I feel that they give the relish colorful appearance with a kick.

It is a great relish with Indian food and you can even use it on sandwiches if you like the taste of fresh Ginger and Turmeric. It stays fresh in frige for good 4-6 wks or sometimes even longer.

First I will give you some information that I collected from wiki on qualities of fresh turmeric and ginger root.

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family (Zingiberaceae). Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal.

Turmeric grows wild in the forests of South and Southeast Asia. It has become the key ingredient for many Indian, Persian and Thai dishes such as in curry and many more.

Although usually used in its dried, powdered form, turmeric is also used fresh, much like ginger. It has numerous uses in Far Eastern recipes, such as fresh turmeric pickle, which contains large chunks of soft turmeric.

Ginger and turmeric produces a hot, fragrant kitchen spice. Young rhizomes are juicy and fleshy with a very mild taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or just cooked as an ingredient in many dishes.

Ginger can also be steeped in boiling water to make ginger tea, to which honey is often added; sliced orange or lemon fruit may also be added. Ginger can also be made into candy.

Mature ginger roots are fibrous and nearly dry. The juice from old ginger roots is extremely potent and is often used as a spice in Indian recipes, and is a quintessential ingredient of Chinese, Japanese and many South Asian cuisines for flavoring dishes such as seafood or goat meat and vegetarian cuisine.

Ginger acts as a useful food preservative. Fresh ginger can be substituted for ground ginger at a ratio of 6 to 1, although the flavors of fresh and dried ginger are somewhat different.

Powdered dry ginger root is typically used as a flavoring for recipes such as gingerbread, cookies, crackers and cakes, ginger ale, and ginger beer. Candied ginger is the root cooked in sugar until soft, and is a type of confectionery.

Fresh ginger may be peeled before eating. For longer-term storage, the ginger can be placed in a plastic bag and refrigerated or frozen.

India and Pakistan, ginger is called adrak. Fresh ginger is one of the main spices used for making pulse and lentil curries and other vegetable preparations. Fresh, as well as dried, ginger is used to spice tea and coffee, especially in winter.

Both fresh ginger and turmeric root have good medicinal values and this relish is particularly good for you in winter time, so my father used to say. Here is my mom used to make this.



Ingredients:


* 8-10 pieces of Fresh thick ginger root ~ 2" long (be sure to buy the root that is tender and not fibrous) (to make about 2 packed cups of julienne roots)


* If fresh Turmeric root is available you can make this relish with half of ginger root and half quantity of fresh turmeric root or you can only use either. (you can buy fresh turmeric roots at local Indian grocer, ginger root is available in all grocery stores)


* 1 cup of lemon or freshly squeezed lime juice (I used lime juice this time but if you don't have fresh lime juice, you can use bottled concentrated lemon juice)


* 3 table spoon of salt


* 2 table spoon of Turmeric powder


* ~ 5-10 fresh Serrano peppers lengthwise slit in to long half pieces (to taste) (be sure to wipe the washed peppers so there is no moisture for longevity of the relish)






Method:



* Peel ginger roots (and Turmeric roots if available)


* Thinly slice the roots in to Julienne.


* Add salt, turmeric powder, lime or lemon juice.


* Mix well.


* Add lengthwise slit pepper piece if adding these.


* Mix well and refrigerate in airtight container or jar.



Hint: I forgot to mention that if you are you are using fresh turmeric rhizome, then you may cut down on the turmeric powder that you are adding to the recipe. Instead of 2 tablespoon you may want to add 1 table spoon only.



Two photographs of Fresh ginger and Turmeric root and their information source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turmeric
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en


Recipe by Surekha's mom Mrs. Kasturben S.
Rest of the photographs by Surekha.