5 RECIPE IDEAS TO ENJOY TEA INDIA’S TURMERIC CHAI

One of my favourite Tea suppliers has recently launched the popular Turmeric chai featuring a unique base of Assam tea. Not only is the tea famous for creating a traditional rich golden milk but can be used in a variety of ways to suit our modern lifestyles.

Allow me to introduce you to Tea India’s Turmeric Chai, the immune boosting properties, the benefits of turmeric’s constituent, Curcumin and finally some ideas and inspiration on how to enjoy the Tea India’s Turmeric Chai.

Turmeric’s Immune Boosting Properties

Most people are familiar with Turmeric as a bright yellow-orange powdered spice from the turmeric root, commonly used in curries and sauces. In Indian cooking especially the spice has been used for its medicinal, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine.

Here are just some of the benefits of Turmeric Tea…

1 Turmeric’s strong anti-inflammatory properties are thought to help ease the inflammation and pain in sufferers of arthritis. The active compound of turmeric, Curcumin has been studied in being effective in reducing pain in osteoarthritis patients.

Reference: Reduces arthritis symptoms

2 Antioxidants in turmeric have shown to reduce the synaptic marker loss and accumulation of amyloids linked to Alzheimer’s disease development.

Reference: Aiding in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease

3 The National Cancer Institute has recognised curcumin anticarcinogen that prevents cancer. Additionally Curcumin has been linked to preventing bowel cancer with studies being undertaken by colleagues at University of Leicester.

Reference: Anticancer properties

4 Turmeric is thought to help maintain the remission from symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis leading to a lower relapse rate.

Reference: Maintaining Ulcerative Colitis remission

5 Even in people with immune disorders, it has been hypothesised that turmeric is able to boost the immune system.

Reference: Immune system booster

6 A study showed that a low dose of curcumin was associated with reducing LDL (’Bad’ fat ) and total cholesterol levels, therefure reducing risk of serious conditions such as heart disease and stroke.

Reference: Helps lower cholesterol

7 Curcumin in turmeric may be as effective as corticosteroids at treating inflammation of the eye (Uveitis) but minus the side effects.

Reference: Aid in the treatment of Uveitis

Turmeric Chai Recipes

As uncertainties of the current times continue even with quarantine restrictions easing off slightly, Tea Indian’s Turmeric Chai aims to help you promote a health and wellness with a sense of warmth and calm whilst enjoying their special blend.

The simplest way of enjoying Tea India’s Turmeric Chai is by adding hot water to a cup with one teabag. You can add sweetness with a teaspoon of honey if desired. However, I thought I’d challenge myself to come up with some recipe ideas you can enjoy this health promoting classic below…

1 CLASSIC TURMERIC & CHAI

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)
1 x cup of water
1 x turmeric chai teabags
1 x teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
1 x teaspoon of lemon juice
1 x teaspoon of black pepper
1 x teaspoon honey

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METHOD
Infuse the teabag in a pot of boiling water and add the ginger and allow to simmer for 10 minutes on a low heat. Once done, discard the teabag, add the lemon, black pepper, honey and mix well. Your tea is ready to serve with a sprinkling of turmeric powder on top if desired.

2 TURMERIC CHAI LATTE (GOLDEN MILK)

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2)
2 x cups or 350ml of Milk (I have to say almond/coconut work best)
2 x Tea India Turmeric Chai teabags
¼ teaspoon ginger (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon per person honey
Grind of black pepper (optional)

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METHOD
Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and whisk constantly over a gentle heat. Once hot, strain and pour into mugs and sprinkle with a little more cinnamon to serve.

3 TURMERIC CHAI POPSICLES

Please note: I used a scaled down version of this recipe to make mini popsicles

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)
1 x tea bag per person (4 teabags)
4 x cups of milk (I used coconut milk)
Honey (to taste)
Pistachios (a handful)
Cinnamon ( a couple of teaspoons)

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METHOD
Infuse the tea bags in the milk by simmering for 3-5 minutes on a stove Add honey to taste (I added 2 teaspoons) Once the mixture has cooled pour into lolly moulds and freeze Prior to eating sprinkle with pistachio and cinnamon

4 TURMERIC CHAI SHRIKAND

A twist on the classic traditional Indian sweet made with hung curd and flavoured with saffron and cardamom. The turmeric chai flavour is very delicate in this recipe so bear in mind not to add too much saffron or any fresh cardamom to mask the flavour.

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)
250g Mascarpone
250g plain Yoghurt
5 teaspoons of icing sugar
2 x Tea India Chai Teabags
1 x teaspoon Cardamom powder (fresh cardamoms are great but can overpower the turmeric tea flavour)
100g ground Pistachios and some roughly chopped for decoration
2 x pinches of saffron strands soaked in half a teaspoon of warm milk
4 x tablespoons milk

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METHOD (SERVES 4)

Soak the teabags in 4 x tablespoons of warm milk until the milk is well infused with the tea, around 10 minutes. Lightly whisk the mascarpone with the yoghurt and fold in the icing sugar. Add the saffron and milk together with the milk infused by the tea bags and gently fold or mix Add the majority of the ground pistachios and cardomom powder and mix Next transfer to serving dish and refrigerate. Overnight is best to infuse the flavours. Remove from fridge a little earlier to serving and the mix will have thickened a little more. Decorate with chopped pistachio and a sprinkling of turmeric if desired.

5 TURMERIC CHAI LEMONADE

Turmeric Ginger Lemonade with fresh Mint is great for fighting fatigue and reducing inflammation in the body and is naturally sweetened

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)
4/5 cups water
4 x Chai India Turmeric Tea Bags
1 x tablespoon fresh root ginger
Juice of 2 lemons
Lemon slices
3 x tablespoons honey
Pinch of black pepper (it activates the curcumin)
Fresh mint leaves

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METHOD
Bring water to a boil on a stove and add teabags, fresh ginger, lemon and black pepper. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes Once cooled, strain the liquid to remove the excess ginger and serve topper with lemon slices and mint. Add extra sweetener if you are not a fan of the tart flavour. Adding ice can reduce the flavour so refrigerate instead if you prefer a cool drink.

Please note Tea India’s Turmeric Chai is now available in Waitrose priced at £2.50 for a box of 40 tea bags.

Disclosure: I was gifted a selection of tea including Turmeric Chai by Tea India but by no means was I under any obligation to write this review. Please note that all views, opinions and content are my own including photography unless otherwise stated and therefore remain a copyright of be-lavie.

Have you tried Turmeric Chai before? What did you think and tell me which recipe would you attempt?

À bientôt

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