Turmeric (Curcumin) Juice

… a great way to start the day.

You’ve probably heard of ‘golden milk’ – a warming healthy drink with made with coconut oil, spices and nut milk. I love that one at night, instead of a hot chocolate sometimes. But I find this one is more refreshing for the mornings.

I had the idea to make my freshly squeezed orange juice more ‘golden’ one day too. Truth be told, it was a hangover kind of day and I wondered if it would help! And it did. I found it filling and balancing and didn’t have the usual ‘morning after’ carb craving either. 

I love it so much that I did the blend and started drinking before I thought to take a picture for you … sorry for the messy glass !

 Tools, Tips & Techniques

tools

You definitely need a good hand blender here. ( do you have a good one ?)  It’s simple and fast, and easy to clean as you go.

I used my Bamix swissline hand blender with the whisk blade ( the one with the holes in it ). Unlike other blender whisk attachments that look like proper hand whisks –  this blade is actually quite tiny ! This means I can blend straight into my glass tumbler !

tips

spice storage: I keep plenty of spices in old jam jars.I love the colours . I keep them on a shelf in the utility room at eye level. So it’s easy to see when I need to replace them, or when I’m getting too much or too little of them in my diet ! Much better than been hidden in a drawer like I used to do. How do you keep yours ?

pepper & ginger: don’t leave these out. They are necessary to draw out the goodness from the Turmeric ( especially the pepper). That’s also the job of the coconut oil in the golden milk recipe – the fats are the best thing to pull the goodness out for you, pepper too. Use a strong ground pepper, not a cracked one. I use the white pepper i get in Marrakech, Morocco – it’s so strong I have to hold my nose so I don’t sneeze when I open the jar ! 

techniques

mise en place: Use freshly squeezed orange juice, I think with the bits you get in that, it makes it easier for the spices to hang on to something.

blending: I like to be quick and save on the washing up too, so i pick the widest and tallest tumbler I have.

The blade goes almost to the bottom but the power of the Bamix means the vortex draws everything up from the bottom of the glass too. It’s not easy to mix spice powders into juice but the Bamix is so powerful that the vortex the blender creates just mixes it in seconds.

Start with the spices and add a little orange juice and blend. Then add more to fill the glass to about 70% max. Tilt the glass a little and draw the blender up and down a little too – not too far so it doesn’t splash turmeric & orange over the top ! The whisk disk gives you a nice froth on top !

serving suggestion: Blend and drink – no extra serving necessary !

Servings : 1   |   Prep Time : 1 min.  | Blending  Time :  20 secs   |   Difficulty : 1/5 if you have a Bamix !

 Ingredients

3/4 glass of fresh orange juice

our local supermarket has a machine where we can make our own

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

powder better than root here, I think it’s more concentrated…and wont get stuck in your teeth !

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

I like to have a teaspoon of cinnamon in a day to regulate blood sugars

1/2 to 1 teaspoon ginger powder

Amount depends on your taste for ginger. I love ginger and can take a lot more in the juice. In my golden milk I use max 1/2 teaspoon.

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

depends on your taste for the spice, but the more the better I feel

Method

1.   Put a little orange juice in a glass or mason jar that works with your blender ( see technique above).

2.  Blend / whisk to emulsify

3.  Add more juice and blend again , carefully ( see techniques)

4. Enjoy – and don’t forget to take off any yellow stains around your mouth after !