ਹਲਦੀ

What does haldi mean in Punjabi? Haldi (ਹਲਦੀ) is the Punjabi word for turmeric, the golden rhizome ground into a deep yellow powder that colours and flavours dal, sabzi and curry, gives haldi doodh its name, and fills the wedding vatna paste.

What does haldi mean in Punjabi?

Haldi is turmeric, from the plant Curcuma longa, in the ginger family and native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Wikipedia records that it needs temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees and high rainfall, and that its rhizomes are gathered each year, often boiled and dried, then ground into a deep orange-yellow powder. The powder tastes warm and bitter, a little like black pepper, with an earthy, mustard-like aroma, and its golden colour comes from curcumin. It is old, too: turmeric was found at Farmana in remains dated between 2600 and 2200 BCE.

How is haldi used in a Punjabi kitchen?

Haldi is a key spice of Asian cooking and a principal ingredient in curry powders. In a Punjabi kitchen a pinch goes into dal, sabzi and rice for the familiar golden colour, and the fresh rhizome can be used like ginger. The best known drink is haldi doodh, turmeric stirred into heated milk with black pepper and ghee, served in some cafes abroad as golden milk. One caution belongs here: turmeric is approved as a food colour, code E100, but there is no high-quality clinical evidence that eating it treats any disease, so enjoy haldi as food, not as promised medicine.

Why is haldi rubbed on a bride or groom before a Punjabi wedding?

Because of the Mayian ceremony, also known as Vatna Maiyun, Haldi or Ubtan, the preparation ceremony held one day before Punjabi weddings, usually at the couple's parental homes. Wikipedia's Mayian account describes the bride or groom seated on a wooden plank called a patri, a red cloth held above by four female relatives, while married women, led by the mother, rub a paste of turmeric, flour and mustard oil on the face, arms and legs as songs are sung. In the Batna or Vatna rite the yellow paste is rubbed on to cleanse and balance the body for married life, and the ritual is documented in Punjab and among Sikh communities in Britain.