Turmeric is what gives curry powder the yellow color. It has been a favorite culinary spice in Africa and Asia for millenia, but it also has medicinal value, particularly in helping to metabolize fat, including fatty deposits in tissues. It is entirely safe in enormous doses; effects are gradual and cumulative.
Turmeric pacifies kapha and vata and due to the presence of some bitterness also pacifies pitta. It is therefore tridoshic.