Turmeric/golden milk - my humble glass of herbal goodness

Jul 5

Jul 5 Turmeric/golden milk - my humble glass of herbal goodness

drinks, healthy, indian, under 10 minutes, vegetarian

Life is full of surprises, and at least the weather in Netherlands makes sure it serves that purpose. My morning routine may skip a step or two, but never do I miss the primal task of checking the NS app for train updates, and often that blesses me with a few extra minutes for the essential snooze. This morning things seemed to be just fine, until I reached the train station when all the trains were running at least 20 minutes late. You see, while I may be the one that abides by every rule of tech savviness when it comes to planning my travel, my everyday relationship with public transportation has taught me enough to take that as a clue and head back indoors, unless the world might feel resilient at work. Receiving the opportunity to be able to work remotely can be thanked ample on days like so (thanks modern communication tech!).

As I sat on my desk to start the daily work customs, came the rain gushing down like cats and dogs. While my humble balcony greens were silently celebrating this friendly visit, I sat at the desk confused about what must I do next - should I grab some socks to feel warm? But it is summer now, shouldn't it be warm? And how about coping with the sudden drop in temperature? So many problems, and none really relevant but must be catered to. Thus, started my day under a shawl that I bought from Shimla a few years ago, and my cup of ginger chai.

The afternoon rewarded me with a few extra minutes to quickly glance into my pantry and make a small list of ingredients that I may need to replenish, and this activity becomes more time-relevant as I am planning a trip to India in August. Going through my pantry takes time, but this was easy as I only had to look through the spice section. I think I'll get some dry red chillies, and some home made basic spices which have become quite seasonal for my visits to India. But how come turmeric is on my list? The humble turmeric box that seemed to provide me with a perennial supply of the yellow marvel powder was glancing at me as I barely saw the bottom of the box. The box has been my companion for 5 years now, when I first poured 2 kilos of bulk bought turmeric powder into it. That was the first time I came abroad with every masala in my bag, but turmeric. To my luck, the Turkish supermarket where I bought it seemed to have only huge bags for sale. Somehow the box never got over, or I kept pouring new turmeric supplies, making it my perineal box of golden love.

Turmeric holds such fundamental relevance to an Indian kitchen, and the benefits of this ingredient goes beyond the dazzling color that it induces into each curry that Indians get to slurp. Fish, meat, mushroom, even raw bananas were bathed in a cauldron filled with turmeric and other blends of spices and allowed to rest in there before they reached our hot woks. They claimed it helped remove the last traces of any possible microbe in there. Turmeric milk was fundamental for the cold days in many households surrounding our's, and posed as the solution to conditions ranging from cold or fever, to stomachache and maybe it was for the emotional comfort, or maybe it really worked, but there should be some reason why turmeric was favoured over medicines in these situations. For me, it simply acts as a companion when I am cooking. I need a pinch or two of turmeric, in the curries I make, unless they are meant to be white (which is when I argue if I should make some!).

I think I'll spend the next few days cooking through my last batch of turmeric so that I can finally give my box a good clean and help it with a third supply of the herbal wonder. I made some warm turmeric milk for the much needed cold summer's evening - there's always a start!