16 June, 2020
KASHAYA……TWO WAYS medicinal tea/herbal water decoction – VIDEO
Aromatic, herbal, healthy drink Kashaya, called so in Kannada, prepared by boiling certain herbs and spices in water, is an ayurvedic beverage/concoction that keeps body warm and healthy, during winter, when it rains or when you feel/catch cold. This is called as Kadha in Hindi which translates to water decoction obtained by boiling medicinal herbs.
This is an immunity booster, aids in digestion and one of the basic home remedies offered to lessen/ease the symptoms of cold, cough and flu since ages. Like any other recipe, this also has many variations, everyone makes it in their own way as per one’s requirement, taste or availability of herbs and spices. But I have grown up drinking this kashaya made in this same method since so many years.
More than anything this is one of my most favorite medicinal tea, which I would enjoy almost through out the year ie.. for all the 365 days !
Yes its mainly because of my cold intolerance or I have lower cold tolerance. We are living in Gurgaon where we witness extreme weather conditions. So during winter it is obvious to feel cold, but during summer and rainy season, one can not avoid A C and due to that reason I have to take extra precaution. Moreover now currently because of lock down/covid 19 -no maids, so washing vessels, cooking, washing clothes etc everything adds to chances of me catching the cold.. so everyday I make sure to drink this herbal tea once a day to avoid getting cold, like I prepare Kashaya by boiling whole herbs in the water or I will add the kashaya powder to my tea
I also use this Kashaya powder as tea masala powder to make masala tea. For making about 1 cup of tea I put 1/2 tsp of Kashaya powder, 3/4 tbsp of tea leaves, 2 tulasi leaves, 1 tsp ginger to 1 cup of water, boil well rapidly, strain it into a glass/cup, add the milk and consume – that’s it !!
Red rock sugar/Kempu Kallu sakkare is an unrefined/less refined form of sugar, available in southern parts of India, commonly used for medicinal purposes, which we also use for culinary purpose, mainly while making pongal , Panaka etc. I guess this is made from crystalised and flavored sugar and is less sweeter than regular refined white sugar
NOTES :
- This can be made fresh by boiling the whole herbs as such in the water
- or
- We can make a dry powder of herbs and use as n when needed as per requirement ( I have posted both the ways of making this kashaya (below) and also using this as tea masala – refer above)
- Generally betel leaves (ambadi villedele) is used to make this kashaya, but depending on the availability we can also use tulasi leaves. I normally use tulasi leaves as it is difficult to get that particular type of betel leaves here in Gurgaon.
- Usage of milk is optional while consuming this as kashaya, but we always put milk
- The jaggery powder I have used is meant for tea, coffee and milk (you can see the details in the video)
Below you can have a look at the procedure of making my kind of everyday herbal tea, explained in detail along with video. You can always alter the ingredients (include or exclude & increase or decrease) as per your requirement depending on your body nature, availability and level of infection (cold/cough).
Ingredients : measuring cup used 250 ml, makes 4 cups
- Water – 4 cups (1 litre)
- Coriander seeds – 3 tbsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp or grated raw turmeric – 1 tbsp
- Grated ginger – 1 tbsp
- Betel leaves – 1 medium sized or 6 to 8 tulasi leaves
- Black pepper corn – 1/2 tsp
- Carom seeds/ajwain/on kalu – 1&1/2 tsp
- cloves – 10 nos.,
- Dates/Kharjura – 4 (big)
- Raisins – 1 tbsp
- Jaggery powder – 4 tbsp (meant for tea, coffee and milk (you can see the details in the video)
- Rock sugar (red)/kempu kallu sakkare – 2 inches piece
- Cardamoms – 6 to 8
- Warm milk – 1/2 cup
PROCEDURE :
- Take 4 cups of water in a saucepan/container, then one by one start adding all the ingredients except milk
- Allow the mixture to boil rapidly until all the flavors gets infused into the water
- Remove from the heat, pass it through the strainer, add milk and drink hot
