Kashayam is a South Indian herbal tonic served to soothe the throat and help alleviate the symptoms of the common cold, cough and seasonal allergies.

About the recipe

The beauty of this Ayurvedic drink is it’s all natural ingredients, and you can even make a tea pot full and sip this delicious herbal drink all day long.

A family recipe shared by a dear friend

This recipe is shared by my friend Basanthi who made it for me recently when I had a sore throat. Her kashayam is a spicy sweet herbal tonic made with fresh ginger, freshly ground black pepper and raw cane sugar that are brought to a low boil with lots of water. Then a squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

“Kashayam is supposed to feel warm in the throat so you want this to have strong black pepper and ginger flavors, and it’s meant to be sipped nice and hot so you can feel the warmth as you drink it.

“Drink it as hot as you can handle, not Luke warm. It makes a difference. The pepper spice has to kinda feel like a warm burn in your throat. Disclaimer – drink at your own risk, don’t burn your throat 😂 ” Basanthi

Drink a steaming cup of kashayam to calm your cough and warm you up when you have a cold or a sore throat. It’s a wonderful warming herbal drink that does wonders for a sore throat.

Raw unrefined sugar also called jaggery is the sweetener of choice in this kashayam. Jaggery is raw sugar that is extracted from sugar cane before any refinement or processing is done. If you cannot find jaggery use honey.

For a delicious warming herbal tonic to help you feel good when you have a cold, cough or sore throat, give this kashayam a try.

Kashayam
Herbal tonic made with ginger, black pepper and raw cane sugar
recipe contributed by Basanthi

Ingredients:

1 tbsp whole black pepper roughly crushed
4 inch fresh grated ginger. Peel and grate. About 4 tbsp
Raw cane sugar – Unrefined sugar can be bought at the Indian store and is called jaggery. You can also use honey. Use as much as you want to your sweetness level. I used 4 tbsp.
Squeeze of lemon juice

Directions:

In a pot place the black pepper, fresh ginger and the cane sugar. Add 4 cups water and bring the tonic to a low boil. Keep boiling for at least 5 minutes to bring out all the warming properties.

After 5 minutes strain in a teapot. Serve in cups and drink as hot as you can handle.

Save the rest to have during the day. Just pour more kashayam in a cup and microwave until warm.

Kashayam to your health ☕️💕