Golden milk, three ways: turmeric drinks that do not taste like medicine

Turmeric milk is one of those remedies everyone recommends and nobody enjoys. The problem is almost always technique: raw turmeric stirred into cold milk tastes chalky and bitter. Cook it properly and it is genuinely good.

The base rule

Curcumin is fat soluble and poorly absorbed on its own. Two things fix that: a little fat (ghee or full cream milk) and a pinch of black pepper, whose piperine dramatically improves absorption. Never skip the pepper.

1. Classic evening haldi doodh

Warm 250ml full cream milk with 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, a pinch of black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon ghee. Simmer gently for four minutes — do not boil hard. Take off the heat, let it cool for two minutes, then stir in a teaspoon of honey. Adding honey to boiling milk destroys its enzymes.

2. Ginger turmeric latte (dairy free)

Blend 200ml coconut milk with 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, a small piece of fresh ginger, a pinch of pepper, a pinch of Ceylon cinnamon and a date for sweetness. Warm gently and froth. Coconut fat carries curcumin well.

3. Cold turmeric tonic for summer

Whisk 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, juice of half a lemon, a pinch of pepper and a teaspoon of honey into 250ml cold water with a few soaked basil seeds. Cooling, and much easier in Dhaka heat than hot milk.

How much is sensible

A quarter teaspoon once a day is plenty. Large doses of turmeric can irritate the stomach and are not advisable for people with gallstones or those on blood thinners.