My love affair with a cup of classic kadak chai is relentless and idyllic. The feeling of holding a cup of hot tea on a cold winter morning or sipping it out of a kulhad at a tea stall is unparalleled and borderline euphoric. Although it’s never ending but ever evolving. Off late I have been fascinated by gut health majorly and find myself reading and researching a lot on it. Unlike me if you’re not new to the well-being world you probably have heard a fair bit about gut health, inflammation and immunity--they are very closely related.
After consuming my fair share of this information I instantly had this urge to cut back on my consumption of tea cause dairy as you might know really messes up your gut health. Now let me add, it was a very, very tough, almost heartbreaking but it had to be done. Surprisingly I ended up trying out this spice blend recipe which obviously is no close to my usual chai but oh boy I didn’t imagine it would turn out this delicious. This version is made from whole spices, lots of it and copious amounts of jaggery. Okay I have a big sweet tooth so you can happily reduce the amount as per your liking.
Each spice has its own health boosting benefits and does wonders for your gut health and immunity. I highly recommend using whole spices because they’re undoubtedly more potent than ground spices and add a hell lotta more flavour.
So here’s my kadha recipe loaded with immunity boosting spices and super delish.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric powder - Get it here
1 tablespoon fennel
¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional if you don't like heat)
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper - Get it here
2 cloves
A coin of freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon jaggery
5-6 basil leaves
Directions:
In a saucepan add a cup of water and all the spices and bring it to a boil.
Once the water starts to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 3 minutes so that all the goodness of the spices are extracted into the water.
Bring to a boil again and then lower the heat.
At this point you can add 1 teaspoon jaggery and mix it well. Your kitchen should be filled with a swooning aroma by now.
After about a minute turn the stove off and let the mixture brew for about 2-3 minutes.
Strain using a mesh strainer and enjoy your chai with a cookie. That’s what I like to do!
Pro Tip: Don’t throw away the spices just yet, please no. You can use the same blend to make another cup. Yes it works just fine. Or don’t strain the water just chew on those flavourful spices guys, it hits differently, promise!
Interestingly you can also mix this blend up well and store it all together in an airtight glass container. You can use it for seasoning your salads, flavouring your soups or marinating your food as well. Yummm.
Buy your stash of spices for making this immunity boosting concoction here: https://www.beunfiltered.in/shop