Kashaya/Kashayam | A Herbal/Ayurvedic drink

Good for cough, cold, body pain and headache and can be a substitute for coffee/tea. Its such a healthy drink made out of several indian spices. Having it daily would eases the running nose, sore throat and body pain! There are many versions of doing kashaya. Some add more cloves and others add ginger. You can adjust the spices according to your taste as well! So here is this recipe try it when you have cold n cough!

Ingredients:

For powder :

Coriander seed - 1tbsp

Cumin seeds - 2 tsp

Fennel seeds - 1/3 tsp

Black pepper - 4 or 5 or 1tsp

Cloves - 1 tsp

Cardamom - 2 pods

Dry ginger - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - pinch

For Kashaya:

Tulasi leaves 4 or 5 (if avai)

Honey/jaggery - 1 tsp

Mint leaves - 10

Betel leaf - 1 

Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

Kashaya Powder:

1. Heat a pan and dry roast all spices(coriander, cumin,fennel,black pepper, cloves and cardmom) one by one for a 1 1/4 min in low flame and remove n allow it to cool

2. Grind to powder with ginger and turmeric powder

3. The powder is ready n can be stored in air tight container for further use

Kashaya:

1. Boil 1/4 cup of water on medium flame

2. Once it starts boiling put 2 tsp of powder, jaggery and mix 1/2 cup milk 

3. Add all mint leaves, betel leaf, tulasi leaves and boil for 2 to 3 mins and let it rest for a min

4. Switch off and strain the kashaya and drink while hot

Note:

1. Add more or less quantity of milk depending on your preference

2. Don’t rush the grinding process of the spices for long time as the essential oils in the spice powder will release moisture contents and this moisture content will reduce the shelf life of the spice powder. So you grind the powders for short intervals, something like for 12-15 seconds, mix them gently with a help of a spoon to aerate and then grind them again for couple of seconds.