Golden Turmeric Milk

“Each spice has a special day to it. For turmeric it is Sunday, when light drips fat and butter-colored into the bins to be soaked up glowing, when you pray to the nine planets for love and luck.” ― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Mistress of Spices

We promised you the recipe for Golden Milk or Turmeric Milk in the last post. This luscious drink is great before bed and loaded with superfoods. Originally from India, it includes lots of spices that are especially lovely when it is cold out. Golden Milk is a good way to add turmeric to your diet (which is what turns milk golden). However, if you are trying to get a health benefit, remember that eating something once does not do you any good. Like exercise, you can't do it once -- taking just one yoga class or drinking one green juice is not going to improve your health. To truly gain a benefit, you need to do something regularly a few times a week and make it a habit. It's all about increasing your batting average! My neighbor loves turmeric and puts it in everything -- she jokes that her kids ask her why all their food is yellow.

Why are people so crazy about turmeric? The curcumin in turmeric is anti-inflammatory and boosts your body's antioxidant capacity. It is touted to help brain function, depression, cancer, and heart disease. A cup of Golden Milk after dinner is supposed to ease digestion too. Enough talk - here's the recipe:

Golden Milk / Turmeric Milk Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of dairy or plant milk of your choice (I prefer dairy because it isn't uber-processed like plant milk, but if I had to choose a plant milk, oat milk is very creamy)
• 1 inch of fresh grated turmeric or 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1 small piece of fresh grated ginger or 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or small part of a stick
• pinch of black pepper or a few pepper corns
• honey or maple syrup to taste (optional)

Steps:

1. Pour milk in a sauce pan. Grate the turmeric and ginger into the pan. Add the rest of the ingredients, unless you are using cinnamon powder. I prefer to use fresh ingredients, but they aren't always available and dried spices are much more convenient, so use what you have. Personally, I don't use any sweeteners because sugar is evil.
2. Heat sauce pan over low heat until it reaches a slow, barely boiling point.
3. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until it is fragrant.
4. Strain the milk into a mug if you used fresh ingredients and/or peppercorns.
5. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
6. Enjoy! You can also make a larger batch and keep it in the refrigerator for a few days. Just heat it up in the microwave or on the stove.