We know that turmeric has a lot of health benefits. In my household, I use both fresh and dry turmeric powder in my cooking. Of Course almost every indian dish is incomplete without dry turmeric powder, but I also like to use fresh turmeric roots for juice (eg. miracle juice) or pickling them (atheli hardar). Even my 2 year old drinks turmeric milk every night before going to bed. So it just came to my mind one day- if I can make this spice at home? I know back in the days people in India used to dehydrate fresh turmeric roots in the sunlight to make dry turmeric powder. And I buy those roots in bulk on a routine basis, so why not? But sun drying them is a pretty long process and needs a good amount of sunlight which is quite difficult in Chicago at least. However, this is possible with modern kitchen appliances such as a dehydrator. Now I do not have a dehydrator, but I recently bought an air fryer that has a dehrating option in it. So I decided to put this option on my air fryer to test. I decided to make turmeric powder from fresh roots by drying them using the dehydrating option on my air fryer. Guess what, IT WORKED! And it worked so so well. The flavor and aroma of the homemade turmeric powder is just whole another level. I am never buying turmeric powder from stores any more. If you have a dehydrator or dehydrating option in any of your kitchen appliances then I cannot recommend enough on making dry turmeric powder at home. Here is a quick video of how I made it and if you try making it then do let us know.
- Wash turmeric rhizomes (roots) thoroughly. No need to peel or boil them.
- Cut the rhizomes (roots) into thin slices. Try to slice them with equal thickness.
- Arrange each slice in a single layer on a rack or sheet.
- Dry them in a food dehydrator at 100-110°F. In my device, it takes around 2-4 hours to fully dehydrate all the slices. But the time may vary depending on your device and turmeric slice thickness.
- Once dried, use a blender, food processor or coffee/spice grinder to grind dried turmeric slices into powder.
- Sift the grounded turmeric powder using a tea strainer. Grind/blend the hard bits left in the strainer and sift them again.
- Homemade dry turmeric powder is ready to use. Store in an airtight container in a dry cool place.
