Golden Milk (Turmeric Milk with Date and Chestnut Puree)

Let’s catch up over a cup of golden milk!

A warm cup of Turmeric Chestnut Latte or Golden Milk (whatever you wanna call it) is all you need to cozy up this winter season, and to fight against the flu season.

Hello there! Remember me?? I feel like it’s been forever.  The truth is, it’s actually been forever. The last you heard from me was in 2018 and just like that we are in 2019 now. Wow!! I still can’t believe it. I wish you all a very Happy new year. Hope this year is filled with peace, happiness, success and good health and that all your dreams come true. After a lot of contemplation as to what I should start my new year with, I decided to go with this Golden Magic Drink aka Golden Milk (Turmeric Chestnut Latte). I wanted to start my year on a healthy and cozy note with something really bright and colorful. You seriously can’t beat the vibrant and happy golden yellow color of this golden milk (Turmeric Chestnut Latte). 

Recap 2018.

I know, all of you must be wondering, why I was so silent, and why it took me so long to get back. Well, looking back at 2018, the year was full of ups and downs for me just like for most people. Well I feel my 1st half of 2017 was very unfortunate, but it ended okay and 2018 started off exactly the way I expected. However, things almost never go as planned right? So as fate would have had it, things took a different route. There were a lot of challenges, successes, and some disappointments too. For this reason, I like to take my failures as a learning curve. Moreover, 2018 taught me some very important lessons. It taught me to be positive, hopeful, grateful, and to be humble and grounded. Most importantly it taught me that there’s nothing more important than good health, quality time with family and true friends. So reflecting back, all I want is to wish both me and you for this year, is awesome health and happiness. Speaking of health, this Golden Milk will be on a regular basis at home, given its benefits. 

Resolutions?

I have been asked by so many lately about my resolutions. Are we all supposed to make some every year?? Well I can almost never keep up with mine when I make them. For this reason I feel we should take every day as a new day with new hopes and new dreams. Having taken lessons from the previous day it should help us make the present day even better. However, if you are not healthy, no matter what you dream of or already working towards, it will be of no use. So it’s very important to take care of your own self both mentally and physically. With that, I definitely don’t have any resolutions, but I do want to stay healthy, and fit; so I can work towards my dreams and goals. 

And the flu..

With the new years, the flu season also starts. Yikes! First, January is the most freezing month, and second, everyone around gets sick. The last thing I want is to be sick again after months of being unwell. For this reason I had to take some measures to prevent us all from getting the flu. In my quest, I learnt that turmeric really helps with that. It is one of those magical spices, that besides adding such a beautiful golden yellow color to any dish, it is packed with a tons of  health benefits. You gotta be careful while handling it though, because you do not want the color all over your clothes and hands as it can be stubborn to remove. It has anti inflammatory properties, contains antioxidants and also helps with neuro and heart functioning. Additionally, it is fat soluble; hence, it’s better to take it with some sort of fat. Milk is fatty and therefore helps with the absorption of the Curcumin present in turmeric. This warm and cozy golden milk (turmeric latte) should be your new favorite hot drink.

Turmeric golden milk.

Turmeric milk is very popular in india, but extremely unpopular among kids. I seriously don’t blame them. I was one of those kids who hated this golden milk growing up. We used to call it Haldi Doodh (Haldi meaning Turmeric in English and doodh is Hindi name for milk). I am pretty sure, most kids in India are forced to have this golden milk, especially during winter months or flu season. If you were to ask me 20 years ago about this milk, I would not even look at it. Turmeric has a very acquired taste and growing up, all I knew was it’s a spice used in savory curries. So having it in milk was a little weird. In addition, the turmeric milk that I used to have was unsweetened, plain milk with just turmeric and sometimes cardamom. So you can imagine the plain taste of turmeric in milk.

Also, in India warm milk is very common. It helps with sleep in the night and really feels soothing and calming. The best way to enjoy it, is by adding some cardamom, saffron, fennel seeds, chopped dates and chopped nuts while boiling. The dates add a subtle sweetness to the milk and nuts give a nice crunch. It’s very common during winter months. Going back to my childhood, I remember most of the elder people drinking this milk in the night before bedtime. Hence, adding these flavors to the Turmeric milk makes it so flavorful and delicious. 

Home away from home.

I never thought that this milk beverage would gain so much popularity. After moving to the US, I heard everyone talking about some Golden Milk. Curious and intrigued, I googled it only to realize it’s that same Haldi doodh from home that is known as Golden Milk here. Same stuff, just different name. So here it is the flavorful and soothing warm milk beverage, that will be your new favorite thing.

Some other great stuff that I experienced after I moved to US are the Tree Chestnuts. Earlier I thought all chestnuts are the same. I loved eating the fruit back home. “But why are they so brown here?” I asked myself when I first saw them. “Oh, may be they are a dried version of the fruit”, I thought. “Then why does it say fresh chestnuts on the bag?” I wondered. Again I googled, (isn’t google the best thing in the world) and realized that these are tree chestnuts, and they are completely different. The tree chestnuts are less sweet and tastes heavenly when roasted. So to add a nutty and wintery flavor to my golden milk (turmeric latte), I decided to add some chestnut puree. For the natural sweetness, dates are amazing and add a delicious flavor. 

Mixin’ it up!

I soaked some dates in little water and added the roasted chestnuts. For the spices I used, fennel, saffron, cardamom, black pepper and cinnamon. Of course there is Turmeric as it won’t be golden milk without this key ingredient. Later everything is pureed to a smooth paste so it dissolves fully in the milk as needed. To get rid of the raw flavor of turmeric, it’s important to boil it nicely in milk. However adding all the spices adds a lot of aroma, and the chestnuts add some nuttiness to the milk. 

To make it vegan, you could totally make it with coconut milk. That will add creaminess and sweetness. You could also make it with almond milk. And that might add to the nuttiness. You can’t find chestnuts, or you want to make it in summer when the chestnuts are not in season; no problem! Just make the regular recipe without chestnuts. Add all the spices in milk, boil it and let steep for 5-10 minutes. Instead of pureeing the dates, you could chop them and boil in the milk and add some chopped almonds. That will give a different texture to the milk.  

Cheers!

So to make the year full of beautiful colorful memories, here it is, the most flavorful and delicious warm milk beverage with the bright, vibrant, and happy color. Cheers to 2019 and to making some colorful memories this year. 

If you make this golden milk (turmeric latte), I would love to see your version, so do share with me on my Facebook page , or Instagram.

If you want to try other milk beverages with spices, that is very popular in early spring then check out Thandai. And if you want some comforting winter vegetarian dishes, then check out Black Eyed Pea curry, or Cauliflower Basket. Have a fabulous 2019 and an amazing winter season. Stay warm.

5 from 17 votes

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Golden Milk (Turmeric Milk with Date & Chestnut Puree)

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

Creamy, flavorful and soothing warm milk.

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: turmeric, milk, turmeric milk, golden milk, chestnut, turmeric latte, chestnut latte

Servings: 4 to 5 people

Author: Esha

Ingredients

For Chestnut and Date Puree:

• 175 ml water
• 75 grams dates chopped and pitted
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1 pinch black pepper powder
• 6-7 saffron strands
• 125 grams fresh tree chestnuts

For Turmeric Milk:

• 500 ml milk
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cardamom

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut a small slit on the flat side of the chestnut shell.
3. Roast for 15-20 minutes. Let cool.
4. Meanwhile, boil water. Add all the other ingredients for the puree in the boiled water. Cover and let steep.
5. Peel the chestnuts and add in the boiled water.

6. In a heavy duty blender, Blend this all to a smooth puree. If the consistency is too thick, then add some warm water. Strain to get the smooth puree. Store in air tight container for approximately a week to 10 days.

7. In a heavy bottom pot, add 1/2 of the milk and turmeric. Boil and let simmer for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the milk, cardamom and give it a boil. Take off the heat. Strain it.

8. Serve in the desired cups. Add 1-2 tsp of the puree in each cup and stir until completely dissolved. You can add more puree if you want more sweetness.

Recipe Notes

Add as much or as little puree, according to the sweetness. 

Any kind of milk can be added to make it vegan.

The puree can be used to sweeten the plain milk, coffee or tea.