Turmeric is a flowering plant, Curcuma longa of the ginger family, the roots of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent. Plants are gathered each year for their rhizomes, some for propagation in the following season and some for consumption. Turmeric powder has a warm, bitter, black pepper-like flavor and earthy, mustard-like aroma. Although long used in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is also known as haridra
