Instant Golden Milk
At this point most folks are familiar with this amazing beverage and for good reason! Golden Milk is a delicious, turmeric-based drink that’s a traditional home remedy in India, where it’s known as Haldi Ka Doodh, commonly drank for colds, flus, coughs, and congestion. It’s also often enjoyed simply as a nourishing and calming before-bed tea. Turmeric has been touted to have every health benefit under the sun but here are a few that are true: It definitely decreases chronic, systemic inflammation when taken consistently over time. It’s a vulnerary herb amazingly healing for the skin and especially healing for leaky gut. Many folks with lots of inflammation have injured their guts taking NSAIDS long-term and could really use this healing combo of being anti-inflammatory and gut-healing! It’s a potent digestive bitter, helping us absorb our nutrients and digest our food better (the root of health). And it’s super potent antioxidant, helping fight cancer-causing free radicles in the body. In counties where just 1 tsp/day of turmeric is consumed (largely in food) cancer rates are upwards of 10x lower than in the U.S.! It’s pretty drying though so more than 1 tsp/day isn’t really recommended, or you can mix it with demulcent herbs, such as cinnamon in this Golden Milk🧡 I make what I call Instant Golden Milk balls by mixing turmeric powder with cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom powder and a pinch of black pepper. Then I mix it with a combination of raw honey and ghee (at a mix of about 75% ghee and 25% honey) until I have a dough-like consistency. I roll them into little balls, store on the counter in a mason jar, and then simply dissolve one into hot water/milk when I want a quick cup of instant Golden Milk! See the details for this recipe below! It’s loosely based on the classic Golden Milk recipe, but so many other herbs could be added to this kind of herbal paste preparation, like adaptogens, different spices, and so on- let your imagination and creativity go wild!
Instant Golden Milk
Ingredients:
Turmeric powder 1 part
Cardamom powder 1/8 pt
Cinnamon powder 1/8 pt
Ginger powder 1/8 pt
Black Pepper powder 1/8 pt
Ghee
Raw Honey
Directions:
Start by making your powder portion. I recommend making a large batch because these never go bad and don’t even need to be refrigerated! You can make 1 part equal whatever unit you want, so, for example, for the recipe above if you make 1 part equal 1 cup then you’d be using 1 cup turmeric powder and 1/8th cup each (or 2 tbsps) for the cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper. Next, add in the ghee and honey at a ratio of approximately 50% ghee and 50% raw honey. This is kitchen medicine, so basically what you’re going for is a consistency and taste that you like. To make, I recommend adding a little of the ghee and honey at a time, then mixing, and then adding more and mixing. Keep adding the ghee and honey (you need less than you think) and mixing until it gets a dough-like consistency that you can easily roll into little balls, about 1 inch in diameter, using approximately 1.5 tsp/ball. Don’t worry- your hands won’t be permanently stained yellow, but watch-out because it can stain your clothes! One pound of honey and the ghee made from one pound of butter (the jar size that’s usually sold in stores) will be more than enough if you decide to make 1 part equal 1 cup. If you’re a measurements person, keep track of how much powder and honey and ghee it took for you get your desired consistency and taste (maybe you like less ghee and more honey, etc) in a kitchen journal.
Dosage & Use: For a daily medicinal dose of turmeric eat 1 ball/day. No need to be refrigerated. These can definitely just be eaten as-in, or they can be dissolved into warm milk (any kind) or water to make an instant cup of Golden Milk- my favorite way to use this paste! Ashwagandha is a lovely addition too. An alternate way to use this preparation is to use this as a spice base for a dish, simply melt on a pan and use as the ghee-honey-spice base for whatever you’re making! You can leave-out the honey if you plan on using it this way but it’s such a small amount that the sweet flavor really hardly comes through once you add it to an entire dish. It’s a versatile preparation- enjoy!
