Turmeric Boba Pearls

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Turmeric boba
Turmeric boba pearls.

Turmeric boba pearls are healthy boba pearls that have been made with turmeric. This article will cover how to make them the healthy boba pearls. They provide a ton of health benefits which are said to include digestive relief for digestive problems, and anti-inflammation. Turmeric is also said to help the blood flow in the body and improve brain power. It has powerful antioxidants that help to keep the body clean and clear of dangerous toxins.

Because the turmeric is placed directly into the boba, it becomes a healthy medicine ball that provides a ton of energy from the tapioca. Turmeric has been used in history as a documented medicine to relieve respiratory related problems, blood related problems, digestive related problems, and other problems in the body.

The turmeric boba pearls can be used to make a turmeric bubble tea, or as regular boba in any herbal drinks or other bubble teas. I came up with the idea, because many individuals were being pressed to believe that tapioca pearls are really bad for you, when they really aren’t that bad.

How To Make Turmeric Boba Pearls

This is how you make turmeric boba pearls. If you already know how to make tapioca pearls from scratch, then making these will be easy. However, it does take some additional effort to learn how to knead the ingredients into the dough. If you have any issues when making the dough to make the tapioca pearls, then please refer to what to do to fix the dough issues.

Equipment needed to make turmeric tapioca pearls:

  • A non-stick pan.
  • A heat resistant spatula.
  • A measuring spoon.

Ingredients for making tapioca turmeric pearls:

  • Tapioca starch or cassava flour.
    • I used cassava flour because I didn’t have any tapioca starch.
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder or grounded turmeric.
    • The amount of turmeric is enough to get a significant amount for health benefits. It is about a fourth of a recommended daily amount for turmeric for optimal health benefits.
    • Please be aware that adding too much turmeric to the boba pearls can cause the boba to not cook properly, or mess with the chewiness by making them too soft. If you want to add more turmeric, you will need to make a bigger dough. I will just make a small dough to show you that it is possible.
  • Water.
  • Brown sugar.
    • The brown sugar is for the color. It is not required to actually make the boba.

Here are some things to consider. First, the turmeric is known to stain the surface of the things it touches. Keep this in mind when making this. If you don’t want it to stain your pan, then use a different cheaper pan for cooking it with the ingredients. It can also stain your hands too while kneading the dough. I managed to make this without any stains on my pan or hands.

1. Start by putting a small portion of water in a pan.

Start with water.

The amount of water used will determine how many turmeric pearls that you want to make. Use more water if you plan on making a lot. For me, this made enough for one bubble tea drink (about a third of a cup).

2. Heat the pan on the stove.

Place the pan on the stove and heat it to low-medium heat.

3. Put in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of grounded turmeric in the water in the pan.

Mix the turmeric with the spatula into the water. Doing this on my dark colored pan by pouring the turmeric directly into the water, left no visible stains on my pan.

4. Put brown sugar into the mixture.

Brown sugar added to the water and turmeric.

Mix the brown sugar into the turmeric and water. The amount you use needs to be less than the water. You don’t need to add in sugar, but it does help to sweeten the pearls, and add some color to them.

4. Add in the cassava flour/tapioca starch (one or the other, not both).

Tapioca starch or cassava flour added to the mixture.

Add in half of the amount of tapioca starch (or cassava flour) to the proportion of the entire mixture. The consistency of the mixture after it is mixed should still be liquid, not solid. Mix it thoroughly into the rest of the mixture.

5. Keep occasionally stirring the mixture until it thickens into a sticky blob paste.

The mixture needs to be cooked on the stove at a temperature less than medium, and stirred with the spatula constantly. It will thicken as it continues to cook, just patiently keep stirring it.

Tapioca dough thickening.

6. Once it thickens enough, add more tapioca starch or cassava flour (depending on which you are using).

Tapioca starch or cassava flour added to the tapioca dough.

Place some cassava flour or tapioca starch on the pan underneath the sticky blob. I started with about half of the amount to the size of dough i had to start off. Keep kneading the tapioca starch/cassava flour into the sticky dough until it is no longer sticky, and can take no more. If the dough is sticky, it will need more starch/flour; if it is crumbly, it will need a little water to restore it.

7. Take the dough out of the pan and place it on a flat surface to finish kneading it with your hands.

Finished tapioca turmeric dough.

If you are concerned about the turmeric staining your hands, then wear disposable gloves. It did not stain my hands without gloves, as it was already thoroughly mixed into the dough at this point. Place some of the cassava flour or tapioca starch unto the flat surface and finish kneading the dough with your hands. The dough needs to be dry but not crumbly. Add more flour/starch or water as needed.

8. Form the tapioca pearls from your finished dough.

Healthy turmeric boba pearls ready to be cooked.
Perfect turmeric tapioca pearls ready for cooking.

Finally, make the tapioca pearls from the finished dough by taking a small portion of the dough and rolling in the palm of your hands. Afterwards the balls can be gently rolled in more tapioca starch or cassava flour to keep them from sticking to one another.

The pearls cook at the regular times for traditional tapioca pearls. After they finished cooking, I mixed and soaked mine in real honey for additional health benefits and flavor. They tasted really good and looked great. Turmeric goes with honey really well.

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