Turmeric Iced Tea with Cardamom – A zero calorie drink for summers

Recipe for a soothing turmeric iced tea infused with green cardamom and a squeeze of lemon, a zero calorie drink for hot summer afternoons

Even for someone who cannot start my day without a mug of tea, Bangalore mornings have been too hot to do so. The thought of drinking a hot beverage even in the reasonably not-so-scorching early morning hours feels unbearable. I drink a few cups of tea in a day and if I can’t have that, I need some worthy replacement. That’s how this idea of turmeric iced tea came about.

There was quite a bit of leftover fresh turmeric root from what I had ordered a few weeks ago. Thankfully, these last quite long when packed in a cloth bag and saved in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator. I smashed some of the turmeric root in a mortar pestle, boiled it along with some green cardamom in water to get a highly flavourful golden liquor. Towards the end, I added some loose leaf tea. And this is the turmeric iced tea base. Allow this to cool in a jug in the refrigerator. Fill a glass with lots of ice, pour this turmeric iced tea. Squeeze half a lemon and a few leaves of basil or mint and you have a zero-calorie refreshing drink to get by the summer days. If your kids want a touch of sweetness in their iced tea, by all means add some maple syrup or honey to the turmeric iced tea. Of course, this means it won’t be zero calorie any more 🙂 

Also check out:

Turmeric Rice with Cauliflower

Turmeric and Mango Hummus

Turmeric Tea 

For someone like me who finds it extremely difficult to drink plain water, this also makes an all-natural zero calorie alternative. A jug of this turmeric iced tea in the fridge does help me up my water intake for the day.

If you don’t have fresh turmeric root, by all means boil turmeric powder in water along with smashed green cardamom pods to achieve the same flavour. Make sure you filter out using a muslin cloth or a very fine meshed sieve so you don’t get the powdery residue while drinking.

Also read: 5 drinks to try out this summer that are not your usual iced tea

If you are looking for more ways to use turmeric in your cooking, you’ll love this 2 minute creamy turmeric salad dressing

Shop: This set of 6 Mason Jar mugs is just perfect to serve summer drinks and VFM too!

Turmeric Iced Tea with Cardamom

Recipe for a soothing turmeric iced tea infused with green cardamom and a squeeze of lemon, a perfect drink for hot summer afternoons

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Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 4 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4 glasses

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 5 cups water
• 2 inch piece turmeric root or 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 2 tsp loose leaf tea or 2 Assam tea bags

To serve

• ice cubes
• lemon
• fresh herbs
• maple syrup or honey optional

Method

 

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Smash the turmeric root and green cardamom in a mortar pestle and add to the boiling water. Boil this for 5-7 minutes.
2. Add tea leaves / bags. Turn off flame. Cover and allow to brew for 5 minutes.
3. Filter out the tea liquor into a jug and allow to cool for 4-5 hours.
4. To serve, half fill a glass with ice. Pour the prepared turmeric tea liquor. Squeeze half a lemon and add some fresh herbs.
5. Sweeten with maple syrup or honey if required.

Notes

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