A couple of years ago I attended the New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists AGM where amazing herbalist Bevan Clare discussed the benefits of working with powdered herbs.
During her lecture Bevin discussed ways of incorporating medicinal plant powders into food and making them more palatable.
Turmeric for example is NOT absorbed well - in fact the curcumin (anti-inflammatory) constituent you see in sold in capsules is only present in 1/17th of the actual powder.
You must combine it with some type of oil (butter, ghee/clarified butter, oil, coconut milk) along with black pepper to make the turmeric much more bioavailable and actually absorbed by the body.
In India 4 tablespoons (!!) daily is considered in acute conditions, whereas a maintenance dose of 1 teaspoon is probably more manageable for us Kiwis - preferably in a medium that is tasty!
Bevan's medicinal turmeric fudge is my go-to recipe here - it has a distinct spicy flavour and 1 piece daily contains approximately 1 whole teaspoon of turmeric!
For this recipe you need to:
1. Melt 400g of 70-80% dark chocolate in a double boiler (to prevent burning)
2. Add 1/4 cup of extra virgin coconut oil.
3. Once chocolate and coconut oil melt, mix 4 large tablespoons of turmeric and 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper into the mixture. Mix well.
4. Pour the hot mixture into a pyrex or silicone dish - can add nuts, seeds and Himalayan salt on top.
5. Put in the freezer and cut into smaller pieces once it starts to harden. Divide into 16 pieces so each serving contains 1 teaspoon of turmeric (approx 200-300mg curcumin)
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