What is the Ginger?
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root, or ginger, is widely used as a spice. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of leaves) about one meter tall bearing narrow leaf blades. The inflorescences bear flowers having pale yellow petals with purple edges, and arise directly from the rhizome on separate shoots. The homeland of Ginger (”Zanjabil ” in Arabic), this particularly useful herbal plant, is North India, Jammu, and Kashmir.
GINGER IN ISLAMIC AND ARABIC THEORY: Ginger, mentioned in the Holy Quran, is a noble drinking plant for the Paradise habitants. ”Ginger is a “heavenly” spice. It is good for digestion, cardiac and vessel performance, cerebral circulation, hormone production, vision, male potency, as well as the ovarian, pancreatic, and skin...” ”Ginger (Zingiber) improves digestion and accelerates the nutritive absorption by the gut walls. Zanjibayl counteracts gas generated in the digestive system helping to reach the feeling of a “flat abdomen”, eliminates the feeling of weight after eating, and gas generation in the intestines...”
Some ideas on how to use ginger in the kitchen:
Use ground ginger in biscuits, milk puddings and desserts, gingerbread, and cakes; Add ginger to homemade jams and pickles; Add chopped or grated ginger to curries and all types of stir-fries;
Use ginger for marinades for poultry and meat; Use chopped ginger together with garlic and onion as an addition to vegetables or meat; Use fresh ginger to make spicy curries or coconut milk creamy curries;
Use to make a refreshing ginger lemonade or ginger ale; Use ginger with any type of Chinese-style sauce made with soy sauce; Add grated ginger to spice up rice or couscous;
Add ginger to olive oil and garlic to make a tasty dressing for salad; Add to freshly juiced carrots and apples for an invigorating pick-me-up drink; Sprinkle dried ginger over apple or rhubarb crumble;
Make a ginger tea sweetened with honey; You can add ginger when cooking at the beginning for a milder taste, or at the end for a more pungent flavor;
