Hill turmeric (konda pasupu) or turmeric: the difference

At a glance

The rows above describe each region in general, from the sources at the end of this page. Only the last row is about our packs.

Where each grows

Hill turmeric. ICAR-IISR's report on the Paderu agency, the tribal hill country of the Eastern Ghats that takes in Araku Valley, Chintapalle and Paderu, says turmeric is grown there by most tribal farmers.

Plains turmeric. Guntur district lists turmeric among its commercial crops, with cotton, chillies and tobacco. Duggirala, in Guntur, has a turmeric processing cluster that makes processed turmeric and turmeric powder. In 2022, Guntur district was divided into three districts: Guntur, Palnadu and Bapatla.

Turmeric can be grown either way: ICAR-IISR says it can be grown rain-fed or irrigated, from sea level up to 1,500 m.

Our hill turmeric comes from the Araku and Maredumilli hills, and our turmeric is grown in Palnadu and Guntur. Both are packed in Narasaraopet.

How each is grown and dried

In the hills. ICAR-IISR's Paderu report says tribal farmers there have grown a local variety called Chayapasupu, or Chintapalle Local, for ages. It has been common practice to leave it in the ground for two or three seasons, up to 18 to 24 months, before digging. From 2011-12, ICAR-IISR and the Horticultural Research Station at Chintapalle tested varieties for the hill zone and brought in Roma and IISR Pragati, which are dug after one season. The report says tribal farmers boil and dry their turmeric by hand, which takes a lot of labour and firewood; the project gave four farmer producer organisations turmeric boilers and polishers.

The usual steps. ICAR-IISR's turmeric guide describes how the crop is handled after it is dug:

1. Dig it when the leaves dry and turn light brown to yellowish. A well-managed crop is ready seven to nine months after planting, usually between January and March.
2. Separate the fingers from the bulbs and boil them within 3 or 4 days of digging, in water until soft: 45 to 60 minutes for fingers and 90 minutes for bulbs. Boiling takes away the raw smell, cuts the drying time and gives an even colour.
3. Dry them in the sun in layers 5 to 7 cm deep, heaped and covered at night. It may take 10 to 12 days for the moisture to fall below 12%.
4. Polish off the rough, dull, scaly skin by rubbing, by hand or in a turning drum.
5. Grind the dried turmeric into powder. FSSAI allows turmeric powder up to 10% moisture.

Fingers are the side branches of the turmeric rhizome, usually 2.5 to 7.5 cm long; bulbs are the shorter, thicker central rhizome. Our hill turmeric pack says whole hill turmeric fingers, packed as fine powder. Our turmeric pack says sun-dried and stone-ground.

Curcumin, and how they look

Curcumin is the yellow pigment in turmeric, ICAR-IISR says. FSSAI measures a turmeric powder's colouring power as its curcuminoid content, and asks for at least 2% on a dry basis. That standard is the same for hill and plains turmeric.

Curcumin changes from one turmeric to the next:

• Variety. ICAR-IISR's 2022 turmeric guide lists its own varieties from 4.3% curcumin (Suvarna) to 6.5% (IISR Prabha).
• Soil and climate. ICAR-IISR notes that turmeric from different regions differs in quality because of soil, climate and farming practice. Its Paderu report calls curcumin content highly sensitive to changes in the growing environment.
• Processing. Handling and processing after harvest add to the differences, and boiling too long or too short affects the quality of the dried turmeric.

So the word hill or plains on a pack does not tell you a turmeric's curcumin content. A food testing lab can measure the curcuminoid content of a batch.

How they look. Colour varies too. ICAR-IISR describes its varieties' rhizomes as ranging from reddish yellow to deep orange. Processing counts as well: boiling evens out the colour, drying in too thin a layer can spoil it, and polishing by hand leaves a rough, dull surface.

Cooking with each, and keeping it

• Use either one wherever you use turmeric: dal, sambar, rasam, curries and pulihora.
• Add it on a low flame so it does not burn.
• To swap one for the other, start with the amount you usually use and adjust to taste.
• Try either one in pasupu annam, nimmakaya pulihora, tomato pappu or pasupu paalu.

Keeping it well.

• Keep the pack zipped shut, or move the powder to a dry, airtight jar.
• Use a dry spoon every time.
• Store it in a cool, dry place, away from light.
• Use it within the best-before date on the pack.

How to compare two turmerics fairly

1. Compare powder with powder. FSSAI allows whole turmeric up to 12% moisture and powder up to 10%, so the two are held to different limits.
2. Read both packs: where it was grown, the batch or lot number, the best-before date and the FSSAI licence or registration number. Note the batch numbers, so you know which lots you compared.
3. Do the water check on both, side by side, with the same amount in the same kind of glass. The steps are in how to check turmeric powder at home.
4. Cook the same dish with each, with the same amount, and compare the colour and taste.
5. Do not judge curcumin by colour alone. A brighter yellow is not a measurement; a food testing lab can measure curcuminoid content.

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