Tumeric Spice Tea

This morning I included turmeric root from our local farmers market in my chai  ☕ tea. Turmeric, which looks like ginger but is a brilliant orange like sweet potatoes, is known as a powerful detox and good for digestion in Ayurvedic medicine. I discovered tumeric milk ages ago at Hugo's restaurant in Studio City. Since then Greg and I have been making tumeric milk and our own blends using the dried powder with fennel seeds, cardamon and fresh ginger or variations on that theme. Healing foods, just like healing scents, are vibrant and add to our vital life force.

Now that I’ve found a source for the fresh roots I’ll be substituting those for the dried powder and also adding it to our smoothies.

For the tea this morning I gathered fresh tumeric and ginger roots, seeds of fennel, cumin and cardamon.

I then peeled the tumeric and ginger and grated them using my ginger grater from Sur la Table. I kept the peels since my friend and local nutritionist Hagit Ammer of Kitchen Rejuvenation made me realize how important and nutrient rich they are.

Next I opened up the cardamon pods and placed them into my mortar for some gentle grinding along with the fennel and cumin seeds.

It then occurred to me that vanilla would be a nice addition. Due to my work as a botanical perfumer I usually have vanilla pods on hand. For making a tincture and this tea I cut the ends off a pod, sliced the them length wise, cut them into inch sized pieces and then added it to the mixture.

All the ingredients were put into the infuser of my glass tea press which I then poured hot, filtered water over. I used the tea throughout the day adding an Indian black tea in the morning and later drinking it straight up.

My recipe was inspired by Hugos, our own blends and Feasting at Home, a beautiful blog by Sylvia Fountaine.

Tumeric Spice Tea

Ingredients:
1 Quart boiling, filtered water
1-2 Tablespoons grated, fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon grated fresh turmeric ( or ½ -1 tsp  ground)
1-2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds (or ground)
1-2 teaspoons fennel seeds (or ground)
1-2 teaspoons cardamon (or ground), I used four pods, removing the seeds.
1 sliced vanilla bean

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a glass tea press, infuse for at least 5 minutes before plunging. Refill the tea press one more time with boiling water. Ideally drink a total of two quarts in a day. If you do not have a tea press simmer the ingredients on low for about 5 minutes in a pot, then strain before drinking.

Enjoy and please share this post.