A simple recipe for Jamu, a traditional Indonesian herbal drink full of anti-inflammatory and healing w. It’s a juice made with turmeric, ginger, black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, sweetened with honey. Jamu can be served chilled as a refreshing cold drink in the summer months or served as a hot tea in winter.
While in Bali last spring, we discovered the most wonderful healing drink, called Jamu. It is an all-natural, anti-inflammatory drink that soothes and restores the body. It’s straightforward to make, and very often, I’ll make a quick batch on Sunday and then drink it during the week. It’s also very soothing if you have a cold, served hot before bedtime.
What is Jamu?
Jamu is a healing juice that originates from Indonesia, soothes inflammation, aids in digestion, prevents nausea, and brings balance to the body. There are many varieties of this healing herbal root infusion. This version, the most common in Bali, is made with fresh turmeric root, ginger root, and a little back pepper, sweetened with honey, and finished with a squeeze of lemon. Jamu tastes very refreshing and pleasantly tangy with a peppery bite. during the hot months yet soothing and warming during the cold months.
Turmeric contains curcumin and has a particularly soothing effect on tired, achy muscles and joints, relieving aches and pains after workouts and hikes. It contains powerful anti-inflammatory compounds that soothe arthritis and, in my opinion, work just as well as Advil without any side effects or harm to the liver. Natural medicine!
Jamu Recipe Ingredients
- Fresh Turmeric Root – fresh turmeric roots is nice here, and I highly suggest you seek it out, but ground turmeric powder works, too, in a pinch (see notes).
- Fresh Ginger Root – fresh ginger, again is recommended, but ground ginger powder can work in ap inch (see notes).
- Black Pepper- black pepper is added to activate the turmeric and make it more bioavailable.
- Honey (or Maple syrup or another alternative sweetener)- honey is traditional but feel free to swap it out for your favorite sweetener, agave, coconut sugar, etc.
- Fresh Lemon Juice – or other citrus- lime juice, orange juice, etc.
- Filtered water 0or coconut water
How to make Jamu
Blender instructions:
Scrub and wash the turmeric and ginger. Slice the turmeric and ginger into thin disks (no need to peel), place in a blender, and add 2 cups water. Blend for about 1 minute. Let stand 5 minutes. Strain into a quart jar, and add the remaining two cups of water. Stir in the pepper. You can either add the sweetener and citrus to the jar, or add to your glass when serving.
Juicer Instructions:
Scrub and wash the turmeric and ginger roots. Juice the whole roots (no need to peel). You should end up with about 1 cup of golden liquid combined. Add 1 cup water to the juicer to extract more of the juice. Place this in a quart jar, pitcher or container. Feel free to fill the quart jar with water, on. stirring in the pepper, sweetening with honey and squeezing with lemon.
I usually make a double batch- this two-quart jar that holds 8 cups of Jamu. I find Brian, and I can quickly go through this healing tonic in one week during the summer months, drinking it cold, straight from the refrigerator.
If it tastes too strong for you, you can always dilute it with water, coconut water or sparkling water. A squeeze of orange is nice too!
And in the winter, we heat up the Jamu and drink it like hot tea at night before bed. In cold and flu season, this is also really soothing for sore throats and colds.
Jamu juice can be made in a blender or in your juicer– and either way, I know you’ll love its healing effects! Enjoy the Jamu juice and let me know what you think in the comments below!
More recipes you’ll love!
- 10 Healing Turmeric Recipes (Plus Top Health Benefits)
- Turmeric Lemonade
- Turmeric Broth Detox Soup {Ayurvedic + Healing}
- Turmeric Tea (Ayurvedic Detox Tea)
- Moroccan Sore Throat Tea
Jamu Recipe (Turmeric Ginger Juice)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
- Category: drink, juice, turmeric
- Method: juiced, blended
- Cuisine: Balinese
- Diet: Vegan
Description
How to make Jumu, an Indonesian drink made with fresh turmeric and ginger root, honey (or maple) pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. This anti-inflammatory juice can be served chilled or hot like tea.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup fresh turmeric roots, rinsed, no need to peel
- 3/4 cup fresh ginger roots, rinsed, no need to peel
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups filtered water or coconut water
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple to taste
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, lime or citrus to taste
Instructions
- If making in a blender, slice the turmeric and ginger into thin disks (leave skin on) place in a blender and add 2 cups water. Blend for about 1 minute. Let stand 5 minutes, strain into bowl, then pour into a quart jar, add remaining two cups of water. Stir in the pepper, honey and lemon, adjusting to taste.
- If using an electric juicer, juice whole roots. You should end up with about 1 cup of golden liquid combined. Add a little water to the juicer to extract more of the juice. Place this in a quart jar, pitcher or container. Feel free to fill the quart jar with water, and add black pepper, honey ancnd lemon juice. Adjust to taste.
Notes
Ground Spices: If using ground turmeric powder and ground ginger powder, stir in 2 teaspoons of each to start (in 4 cups water) with 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 2 tablespoons honey. Feel free to add more to taste.
If stirring in honey in to a cold liquid, mix it with a little warm water first, to thin, then pour this into the jar.
To serve cold, stir, then pour over ice if you prefer. If too concentrated, feel free to dilute with more water or sparking water. To serve warm, gently heat on the stove until it just comes to a simmer, and serve in a mug.
Instead of sweetener, you could use fruit juice instead- apple juice or pineapple juice is nice.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 33
- Sugar: 5.2 g
- Sodium: 7 mg
- Fat: 0.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 8.9 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 0.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
We add Geloie root from our balcony garden for Jamu preperation and have daily fresh
I made this very good I made 2 half gallon container
Great to hear Ivory!
Hello, could I use finally ground products instead of using a blender.
If so, do you have a recipe by the gram?
Thank you
It just won’t be the same, but of course, you can try. I sorry, I haven’t done this so don’t have in grams. I would just mix to taste. 😉
Side effects are known to both tumeric and ginger. Ginger is bloodthinning for one thing, so be careful if you are on blood thinning medication already. Tumeric can cause nausea and stomach pain and can make ulsers worse.
Thanks for the heads up Charlotte.
can i use a magic bullet to make this instead of a traditional blender??
That should work fine!
It’s quite apowerful cobinatiom of phytochemicals .
Hello thanks for sharing! ❤️i made one yesterday and still plenty on the fridge. May i know if there is a need to boil it after blending?
I dont. 🙂
This looks delicious and so easy with the blender! It does seem you have your medication side effects mixed up. Advil rarely causes liver injury. It’s known more for kidney injury if used excessively. It’s tylenol that can cause liver injury, also with overuse typically
I have been to Bali last year and loved having this juice before breakfast. I make my own now and brings back the good memories. I absolutely love this and will continue to making it.
I made this and have been drinking it all week, both as a hot tea and cold. I absolutely love, it, especially since I love ginger. One tweak to the technique for next time, is that I will strain the liquid into a pitcher. When I poured the liquid into my jar from the bowl, as per the directions a lot of it went all over my counter. It is so easy to make, another keeper recipe. I love your recipes. I make one at least every week and always go to your site for meal planning.
Great tip- thanks!
This looks really good, can’t wait to try making this! I do have one quick question and maybe I’m missing a step.. there’s 4 cups of water, the roots add an additional cup – how does this recipe yield 8 cups? What am I missing?! Thank you!!
Because it is a concentrate. I dilute it with equal parts water.
Made ahead of time & available all week for an instant boost !!
Really terrific !!
That is what we do too- have a jar in the fridge right now! Its like drinking Advil. 🙂
Is it possible to ferment this recipe? How would I do this?
That is a great question, and I bet it is possible- but truthfully, I haven’t tried fermenting it. Has anyone else out there tried?
Try adding Apple cider vinager 😉
Funny you should say that- I’ve been doing that this week!!!
Can we remove skin of termaric roots and ginger?
Yes, feel free to remove.
where can I find Turmeric root. Cant find it at my grocery store.
Try an Asian market or Ethnic Market. If all else fails try adding ground turmeric. Start with 1-2 tablespoons. More as you acquire the taste for it. Fresh turmeric tastes much better to me personally.
You can try Sprouts or Whole Foods as well!
I came across this recipe while searching for non-medicinal options to treat a sore throat and laryngitis. Made it yesterday – using the blender method for extracting the turmeric and ginger root juices. It’s not only soothing to my sore throat, but it’s pretty darn delicious. I enhanced the citrus notes with the juice of one large lemon, an orange and 1/2 a grapefruit.
I can imagine adding a shot of ACV and a pinch of cayenne for an immunity boosting morning drink, so this will become a staple in my fridge.
Thank you!
Im so happy you like it!
I used coconut water, it was delicious.
Yummmm
I made this juice which made ALOT so I am wondering, how long does it last? Also I was wondering if the amount of water is right because it tastes a little watered down, is it still effective this way?
THanks
I’ve had in the fridge for the week. You can make it more concentrated if you like.
Love this recipe and the taste of fresh ginger and tumeric juiced!!! I would love to know how much Tumeric powder would be a good substitute for the root in case stores are out of Tumeric like I recently experienced.
One teaspoon of turmeric powder for 1 tablespoon root!
Made a big batch of this and have it in the fridge chilling to drink as needed. Super freshing and love the flavor.
Hey I was just wondering what the shelf life is for 1 litre of Jamu
I would say 1 week in the fridge. 🙂
Why is it so orange? Mine looks like dirty dish water. Tastes pretty good. Doesn’t look so good.
Did you use fresh or ground tumeric?
It looks wonderful, but I don’t have access to fresh turmeric. However I do have a quart jar of turmeric powder. Is it possible to use that instead, and if so, how would you recommend using it? Great blog.
I haven’t tried it with ground turmeric, but it seems like it would work. Just add to taste, a teaspoon at a time? It may not stay mixed and probably won’t have all the flavor of fresh. But worth a try!
Based on your comment of 1 tsp turmeric powder = 1 TBS root, 3/4 cup root = 1/4 cup powder
Show my work:
3/4 cup root = 12 TBL = 12 tsp powder = 4 TBL = 1/4 cup
Thanks! I will make a batch today using powder based on your calculations and see if it tastes right. Appreciate it!
Can you use a little stevia in this instead of honey as I’m counting my carbs.
I don’t see why not? Give it a try and see how it tastes. 🙂
Is it jamu or jumu? The recipe spells is both ways. Just curious.
Jamu 😉
P.S. I use only the dry version of ginger and turmeric so that I can keep a big supply of it stashed. I order ginger, turmeric, pepper, and honey in bulk.
I like the idea of your dry version of this recipe. How much of each ingredient do you use to make a batch ?
Hi Robin, are you happy to share the amount you use to make a big stash of dry. Sounds more doable.
Regards
Laura
I’ve been making this for years. We call it Golden Tea and drink it daily. I include black pepper in the recipe. I make a huge batch minus the water. It keeps well just stashed in a cupboard. We mix a teaspoon in a cup of hot water, usually flavor it with lime juice. I also stir a teaspoon into a cup of hot milk for Golden Milk, prefer it this way. Absolutely delicious, so satisfying, and cures what ails ya.
We do a version of the Golden Milk / Tea that adds cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Heat the dry ingredients in a sauce pan with Coconut Oil to form a slight paste. Then to that, we add almond milk, and cook until hot. Garnish with cinnamon.
Sounds delish!
I’d like to try this, but I don’t have a juicer. Any suggestions as to an easy and efficient method ? I do have a blender
Try blending ( slice turmeric and ginger thinly first) and let it seep over night, strain.
Thanks! Will try that!