I absolutely lover herbs and healing. So you can Imagine my surprise when I discovered Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing when we arrived in Bali.

Jamu is used to heal and support the body for a range of different ailments and health concerns.

There is few different ways that you can make Turmeric Jamu, this recipe is for a raw Turmeric Jamu, it can also be boiled and strained. You can use different ingredients like tamarind, ginger,lime, lemon, black pepper and/or salt.

It is  great way to incorporate the benefits of Turmeric in your everyday life, it’s very delicious, healthy and it keeps well in the fridge.  Much better than the over priced capsules with Turmeric powder in.

And it is great because it uses the Herb in  it’s original and complete raw form. No extractions!

A little bit about Turmeric

Turmeric is definitely one of my favourite favourite  herbs. Turmeric is from the ginger family, it grows under ground looks like ginger but has a distinctive yellow colour and different taste. Commonly used as a spice in indian dishes, or in one of my favourite South African Dishes Bobotie. Bacause of it’s powerful compound curcumin, it is great for inflammation and it’s strength are compared to those of pharmaceutical medicines.

Because inflammation is a common element present for most diseases, turmeric can be very  beneficial to your health.  It is well known in the natural treatment of cancer, and other conditions including those of the skin, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal systems, aches, pains, wounds, sprains, and liver disorders.

Making the Jamu

I am lucky enough to have some freshly grown turmeric in the Jamu Garden where I am staying now. Fresh Turmeric can usually be found in supermarkets around Asia and India and I have also seen it in Kenya. If you can’t find fresh turmeric you can also used dried turmeric powder that can be found at your supermarket, or usually very fresh and inexpensive in big bags at your local Indian shop.

Fresh-Turmeric-Blended

Studies have found that black pepper helps the absorption of turmeric, so be sure to include some ground black pepper to your Turmeric Jamu.

In this recipe I use a combination of fresh turmeric and the powder but you can only use the powder if you want. It is a raw recipe so there is no cooking and really easy to make. I usually have about 200 ml per day.

When I want to add tamarind I make the boiled version like this lady does:


Hope you enjoyed the post!

The Inspiration for the recipe comes from one of my favourite raw food stores Alchemy.