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Indian Turmeric Chai Latte Recipe
Have you ever seen those beautiful golden lattes at coffee shops? They’re Indian inspired and they’ve always had me intrigued on how to make them!
This golden milk latte recipe variation is a tea latte, and it’s got tons of whole spices that each play a powerful role in improving your health and wellbeing. As spring rolls around, it’s still cold outside (here in Canada at least!), but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. However, with the warmer weather around the horizon, it’s also prime time for the common cold.
Additionally, there’s spring break where lots of folks travel with their children. If you want to ensure you’re in tip top shape for spring - whether you’re staying home or traveling, then this is the drink for you!
If you’ve always wanted to make your very own turmeric latte like I did, then be sure to check it off your bucket list as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Sign up to my newsletter to get started on your cooking journey for free, and you’ll get all of my new recipes delivered right to your inbox!
Don’t forget to watch the video to follow along as I prepare this healthy and stunning latte! I’d appreciate it if you subscribe to my YouTube channel and please hit the bell button to be notified when all of my video recipes go live! I love to share the videos to give you a tangible view of exactly what’s happening to go along with the written recipes! Let’s get brewing!
What Is Golden Milk Chai Latte?
In Hindi, “haldi doodh” directly translates to “turmeric milk.” As a result, golden milk is an Indian drink that’s been around for centuries. It’s made with cinnamon mixed into milk, as the name suggests. Furthermore, ginger and cinnamon are typically added, along with sweetener. Not only is the drink eye-catching, but it’s loaded with plenty of health properties! It can help to prevent the common cold, reduce inflammation, and cure an upset stomach. Haldi doodh is a life-saver for kiddos, but to be honest with you, I never grew up with this! My mom wanted to take a lazy shortcut to this by simply adding ground turmeric to boiling milk. Don’t try that please!
With that, this recipe takes on the principle of golden milk but with the addition of tea. Black tea has plenty of its own health benefits as you’ll soon see, making this drink a powerful beverage for your health and tastebuds! Chai is Hindi for tea. If you were ever wondering if you should be saying “chai tea,” technically you’re actually saying “tea tea!” I always giggle when I hear people say “chai tea!”
You won’t think I’m from India when I say that I’ve never had chai until I actually came to Canada - it’s because my parents wouldn’t let me! They just said I’m too young, even when I was 17 years old about to graduate high school. Well, that was then and now I’m a huge chai lover, from my Indian-Spiced Masala Chai to Ginger Chai!
Now, a latte is a beverage that is typically made with espresso or strong brewed coffee, steamed milk, and a thin layer of milk foam. As a result, our Golden Milk Chai Latte will consist of the turmeric milk with added tea and the steamed milk and milk foam on top. Trust me, this is going to be a treat that you’ll want every day - and you certainly can because it’s so so nutritious for you!
What Tea Do I Use For Turmeric Latte?▼
I’ll be using black tea leaves to make my latte. Despite never having tea while growing up back in India, I still wanted to make the recipe follow the way it’s made back at home. You can use tea bags if that’s what you already have on hand, and as I mention in my Make Cooking Fun! free guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, you should have an awareness of what’s in your pantry and finish those ingredients before going out of your way to get new things! Feel free to use your tea bags for this recipe if you already have them, but if you’re working with an empty pantry and need to go grocery shopping for this recipe, then I recommend the tea leaves.
Turmeric Latte Benefits
Our latte is loaded with plenty of health benefits! All of our spices are nutritional powerhouses, making this drink such a winner!
We’ll begin with the ample health benefits of black tea, which include:
- Polyphenols can reduce the risk of heart disease
- Flavonoids to improve heart health
- The potential to reduce LDL cholesterol
- It won’t be harmful on your gut and can aid in digestion
- Blood pressure may be reduced
Check out this article by Healthline to learn more about the health benefits of chai.
Now here’s our bright yellow star of the drink - turmeric! It’s not called a golden latte for no reason! Turmeric is coined as the “golden spice.” Turmeric comes from the same family as ginger, growing in Southeast Asia and India. While it’s used to color and flavor food, believe it or not, turmeric has been used for medicinal purposes in India for over 4500 years! Here’s why you’ll want to include turmeric in your diet!
- The main active compound in turmeric is Curcumin, which not only gives the bright yellow color of turmeric, but holds the medicinal properties. Curcumin is anti-inflammatory and contains antioxidants
- Turmeric can help to prevent or reverse diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, cancer, and diabetes
- Assists in improving eye and skin health
- Can be an anti-aging agent by protecting your body against free radicals, with the potential to delay brain degeneration
- Can help prevent and cure the common cold or flu
Get more details about the health benefits of turmeric here.
Ginger root is also included in our Turmeric Chai recipe, and it’s also vastly used in alternative medicine. A few of its health benefits include being anti-inflammatory, relieving nausea and morning sickness, lowering LDL cholesterol, and boosts immunity. Get more details about ginger’s health benefits here.
Where Can I Buy Turmeric Root?▼
You can buy turmeric root at your grocery store, next to the ginger. However, I’ve noticed some grocery stores don’t carry it! Additionally, I’ve only been able to find organic turmeric root. If you can’t find it at your grocery store, try purchasing it on Amazon.
Why You’ll Love This Indian Haldi Chai Latte!
- Healthy ingredients: As discussed earlier, every ingredient in our latte is loaded with goodness! You’ve really got a pinnacle of health in every cup!
- Aromatic: There are so many incredible whole spices that release wonderful scents. You’ll love the smell of this tea as it’s brewing in your kitchen!
- Fluffy milk foam: My favourite part about lattes is the milk foam! It’s so easy to make and really will take our golden milk to the next level!
- Beautiful!: Hello golden colour! This striking yellow colour is just so special. If you’ve never made this latte before, then when you first see that Instagram-worthy drink in person, you’ll be craving it again and again! Plus, you may almost be too scared to take a sip because this drink is just so stunning!
What Milk Do I Use For This Latte?▼
I like to use whole milk for my latte recipes. This will give you a nice creamy chai that’s similar to authentic chai served in Delhi! If you want to lose a lower fat milk then you can, but you won’t get the rich results that whole milk yields. When I switched from a lower fat milk to whole milk, I really saw the difference!
If you don’t drink dairy milk, then I would recommend you use coconut milk and soy milk. These are rich non-dairy milks and you’ll achieve a similar result.If you really want to, you could use almond milk (bonus points if you make your own almond milk!) or oat milk, but these lower fat milks may result in a thinner chai. Furthermore, I personally dislike oat milk because the “oat” taste is very strong, and I think it’ll be distracting from the ginger and turmeric flavours!
What Does GoldEn Milk Tea Taste Like?▼
Our Golden Milk Tea Latte is warm and creamy with aromatic flavours from all the spices here. It’s not too spicy, but it has mellow and earthy flavours, with some richness from the frothed steamed milk! This is officially one of my new favourite tea recipes, and I’m sure it’ll be yours too!
Is Golden Milk Tea Latte Kid-Friendly?▼
Black tea does contain caffeine. A cup of chai has about 50 mg of caffeine, and a a cup of brewed coffee can have about 80-170 mg of caffeine. While I’m not a doctor, I don’t recommend that you serve your Golden Milk Tea Latte to children. I really wouldn’t want to be held responsible for causing harm to your little one!
However, to make this for kids, you simply need to make a “Golden Milk Latte” without the tea. Follow all the steps as will be outlined below and simply omit the black tea. The rest of the process is the same! Alternatively, if you can find decaf black tea, then this will be safe for children.
Tips for a Delicious Golden Turmeric Latte
- The longer you boil the turmeric and ginger, the more intense the flavour would get in the tea. Make sure to smash it to release all the juices from the ginger into the tea.
- Tea strength will increase the longer you boil it, boiling too long can cause the tea to become bitter. 2-3 minutes works best for me.
- You require a good quality fine mesh sieve to ensure any bits of the brewed tea leaves are filtered from your serving.
- The milk only needs to come up to a simmer and not a boil. Keep stirring to ensure it doesn’t burn and keep a close eye to ensure it does not boil over.
- Double walled cups or a teapot can be helpful to keep the tea hot for a long time - especially if you drink slow.
Do I need a Handheld Frother to Make This Latte?▼
No, you don’t! While I’m using a handheld frother, there are plenty of other tools to achieve a fluffy milk foam! Additionally, while you may see your favourite coffee shop using an extravagant fancy automatic steam wand to prepare your caffeinated beverages, there are plenty of alternatives. Here’s what you can use.
- French Press: Add steamed milk to a French press and simply pump the plunger up and down a couple of times to froth up the milk. You can pick one up for as little $10.
- Electric frother: Handheld frothers, the kind I have, can go for as cheap as $10. On the other hand, electric frothers can go up to $100.
- Whisk: Some elbow grease and a good whisk can really be all you need to make great frothed milk. The cheapest alternative, you can find one for as little as $5.
- Steam Wand: This is the ultimate investment if you are really serious about your coffee. These can range from $100 to $1000 depending on the features of the model.
Equipment for Golden Chai Latte
- Saucepan
- Tea cups
- Frother
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Spatula
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Mortar and pestle
- Milk frother
- Ladle
- Tea pot
Ingredients for Indian Golden Chai Latte
Scroll to the bottom of this post or press the “Jump to Recipe” button for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD to get all ingredient quantities and to save the recipe for later! The recipe card will also allow you to scale the recipe based on how many cups of chai latte you want to make - you can make the recipe for two or for a crowd with ease - no calculations for the ingredients required!
- Water: To boil the whole spices and the tea.
- Milk: Full fat dairy milk will be used here, but you can use the milk of your choice. Keep in mind that taste and texture will be affected.
- Black tea leaves: If you don’t have tea leaves, you can use black tea bags.
- Ginger: Crushed whole ginger. You need to use whole ginger for this recipe or else you won’t get the same potent flavour.
- Turmeric root: It will be crushed with the ginger and will release its incredible flavours in the tea.
- Other whole spices: Cinnamon stick, green cardamom pods, cloves will be added in with the ginger and turmeric. We’ll also garnish with a cinnamon stick and saffron threads. The saffron threads will also help enhance the yellow colour of your chai latte with turmeric.
- Ground turmeric: When I first tried this recipe, I wasn’t achieving that wonderful yellow colour. Turns out that you really want to add the ground turmeric as well so that it can colour your tea and give it a vibrant yellow hue you’re looking for.
- Sweetener: To add a good old Canadian touch to this Indian recipe, I’m going to sweeten my tea with maple syrup. It actually really enhances the spices here!
How to Make Turmeric Chai Latte
Smash the turmeric root and ginger pieces in a mortar and pestle or with the side of your chef’s knife. Then, add the ginger to a saucepan with water and bring it to a boil. Boil for 4-5 minutes or until the water changes colour with a tinge of yellow.
Add the tea leaves, cardamom, cloves and the cinnamon stick and boil for 2-3 minutes. You can lightly smash the cardamom pods before adding to the tea, along with sugar (or sweetener of choice) and mix well.
Then pour in 1 Cup of milk and ground turmeric and heat until the tea starts to steam.
Once the tea is steaming, immediately take the saucepan off the heat and pour the tea through a fine mesh sieve into your teapot or cups.
In the meanwhile, in a separate saucepan heat up the rest of the milk until it starts to steam. Once steaming, use a frother or a whisk to froth up the milk.
Then top the tea with the steam milk and milk froth.
Sprinkle some strands of saffron and serve hot with your favourite snacks.
Variations to Golden Chai Latte
Sweetener: Other amazing natural sweeteners that would be perfect in our Golden Chai Latte include honey, cane sugar or jaggery if you can find it in your area. If you want, regular table sugar works just fine too!
- Milk: As mentioned previously, you can substitute whole dairy milk for a lower fat option or a dairy-free option to make your drink plant-based.
- Stronger turmeric and ginger flavour: Boil the ginger and turmeric for longer or add more ginger and/or turmeric for more intensity.
- Richer chai: The ratio of milk to water I used is 2 cups of water for 1 cup of milk. You can reduce this ratio for a creamier chai.
- Bolder tea flavour: Boiling the milk for longer will result in a stronger chai flavour, known as “Kadak” chai.
- Spiciness: To make your Turmeric Chai Latte “masala-style,” then add in some black peppercorns and that will pump up the heat!
- Kid-friendly: Follow the recipe without adding the tea, or use decaf black tea.
What to Eat with Indian Turmeric Chai Latte
You can definitely have your Indian Haldi Chai Latte on its own, but in India chai is typically enjoyed with snacks or breakfast. Here are some awesome breakfast ideas that will perfectly complement your chai latte:
- Masala Cheese Toast
- Potato Brunch Rolls
- Pyaaz Paratha - Onion Paratha
- North Indian Aloo Kanda Poha
- Toast & Chenna
In India, chai and monsoon season go hand-in-hand, and you gotta have the crispy snacks with your chai! Here are my recommendations:
- Chicken Pakora
- Aloo Tikki Chaat
- Aloo Puff Patties
- Potato-Stuffed Bread Pakora
- Aloo Samosa
- Crispy Paneer Burger
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