With the weather getting colder, I am always looking forward to enjoying Golden Milk again. Who does not love this creamy, warming drink that makes you feel so good?
Interestingly, it is considered anti-inflammatory even with cow’s milk, as the spices are so powerful. The spices enable regular milk to be easily digested, nourishing everybody. Vata-types, or people who have a hard time digesting milk, benefit from the strengthening digestive properties of the spices. Kapha-types have the advantage of overcoming mucous-building aspects of dairy. Thus, Golden Milk can be part of an ayurvedic cleanse, even with regular cow’s milk. But you don’t have to wait for a cleanse. You can have it anytime you are looking for a warming, nourishing drink that not only tastes delicious but also improves your immune and digestive system. Especially during the holiday season, you may consider it to refresh and strengthen your body. Although Golden Milk is not the kind of refreshment that overloads your system, on the contrary, it relaxes an overstimulated system, whether you drink it in the morning or just before bedtime.
When I learned about this treat, I experimented with spices and created my own recipe: turmeric, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, and an unrefined sweetener, all in a specific ratio, which makes this blend so aromatic and well-balanced. I used and loved this recipe for many years until I learned recently that fenugreek adds another factor that helps to absorb the antioxidant compounds of turmeric even better. While black pepper is known to help absorb the anti-inflammatory components of turmeric into the bloodstream, fenugreek enables the absorption even deeper into our tissues. Not a lot of black pepper is needed for an improved absorption of curcumin, which is the bioactive component in turmeric, but there is still this hint of earthy fire to it. As for fenugreek, the taste is mostly bitter and pungent, but the amount in this recipe is very small and barely noticeable. But since it is not everyone’s favorite and sometimes hard to find, I kept it as optional, as the original recipe is already very effective and super tasty.
All these spices are known for their numerous health benefits in general, as they are loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. If you are interested in reading more about them, Joyful Belly has a lot of information on them from an Ayurvedic perspective:
As for the sweetener, it balances the spiciness and is already mixed in. My preferred sweetener is Sucanat sugar, which is unrefined and contains all the minerals of the original sugarcane. Another option would be coconut sugar, which is the unrefined nectar found in the flowers of the coconut palm tree.
My favorite use of this Golden Milk mix is regular Golden Milk. For that, I steam the milk with the Golden Milk mix already added. When I don’t have the opportunity to heat milk, I use boiling water and add some cream, which results in a thinner and lighter Golden Milk drink.
Another use of this mix is the Golden Milk sweet potato puree with almond butter and baked sweet potatoes, a special treat for breakfast, ideal for cold mornings. There are times in winter that I bake a full sheet of sweet potatoes once a week to make this puree all week long for breakfast. However, once the weather gets warmer, the Golden Milk mix might create too much additional heat, especially for Pita-types. But listen to your body, it will tell you when it’s right for you.
Recipes:
Golden Milk Mix
Ingredients:
- 6 ¼ tbsp sifted (50 g) ground turmeric
- 6 tbsp sifted (28 g) ground dried ginger
- 5 tsp (10 g) ground cardamom
- 1 ½ tsp (3 g) ground black pepper
- 10 tbsp or 5/8 cup (91 g) Sucanat or coconut sugar
- 2 ½ tbsp (7g) fenugreek (optional)
Directions:
Sift everything together, mix, and store in an airtight container.
Golden Milk Drink (classic)
Ingredients:
- 2 – 3 tsp Golden Milk mix, or as preferred
- 1 cup milk of your choice
Directions:
Either heat milk with the Golden Milk mix in a pot over a stove, or in a mug using a steamer. Enjoy!
Golden Milk Drink Instant (thinner version)
Ingredients:
- 1 – 2 tsp Golden Milk mix, or as preferred
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 – 2 tbsp cream of your choice
Directions:
In a mug, pour boiling water over the Golden Milk mix. Add cream and enjoy!
Golden Milk Sweet Potato Puree (classic)
Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ tsp (6 g) Golden Milk mix
- 5 oz (138 ml) milk of your choice
- ½ cup (140 g) peeled baked sweet potato, already pureed
- 4-5 tsp (20-25 g) almond butter
- 1 scoop (20 g) collagen (optional)
Directions:
Put all ingredients in a pot, mix evenly, and stir while heating up on the stove. Enjoy!
Golden Milk Sweet Potato Puree (no-stove version)
Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ tsp (6 g) Golden Milk mix
- 5 oz (138 ml) boiling water
- ½ cup (140 g) peeled baked sweet potato
- 4-5 tsp (20-25 g) almond butter
- 7 tbsp or 7/16 cup (100 g) Greek yogurt
- 1 scoop (20 g) collagen (optional)
Directions:
In a heat-resistant jar or mug, pour boiling water over Golden Milk mix. With a hand blender, blend in baked sweet potatoes, almond butter, and, optionally, collagen. Add yogurt last if you want to keep the probiotic cultures. Enjoy!
*Consider that turmeric stains plastic if you want to use a regular blender with a plastic container.
Notes:
- Some people are more sensitive to black pepper than others. Feel free to reduce the black pepper, and use 2/3 or 1/2 of the specified quantity if that’s the case for you.
- A kitchen scale is recommended to prepare the Golden Milk mix to get the precise amounts, but if not on hand, imperial US units may be used. By the way, a kitchen scale can be a time-saver, especially for sticky ingredients, as you don’t have to clean your measuring tools; you can keep adding ingredients to your bowl and reset the scale.
- Best spices can be found at Mountain Rose Herbs, which is known for its excellent quality and taste, as well as for its good bulk prices.
- Don’t use any plastic container as turmeric will stain it! Even be careful with porcelain. Heat-resistant glass or stainless steel is best. If it happens to get stains on your countertop, use a thick paste of baking soda and water to scrub the stain.
- If I make the no-stove version of the Golden Milk sweet potato puree, I like to follow the recipe fairly exactly, as the yoghurt might overpower the taste of the sweet potatoes if there is too much, especially if a more sour type of yoghurt is used.
- The Golden Milk sweet potato puree tastes best when freshly prepared and still warm. Interestingly, it changes flavor when prepared in advance or there are leftovers.
