Ayurvedic Herbs for Immunity: Perfect Homemade Kadha Recipe

Let’s be honest.

How concerned were you about your immunity before the start of the coronavirus pandemic?

The truth is, this pandemic has taught us, rather forced us to do things we should’ve been doing anyway. Using sanitizers, using masks when we have the flu, washing hands to prevent infections and other such habits should’ve been a part of our daily lives regardless of a pandemic. Similarly, it is important to understand that a stronger immune system isn’t just going to help us during a pandemic but also protect us in the long run.

There are a lot of immunity boosters available in the market right now but I’m going to give you a simple homemade recipe which is delicious as well as effective. So, let’s talk about Kadha.

Ayurveda has been known for centuries for its effective remedies and this Kadha is one of them. Kadha is nothing but a herbal concoction which is prepared using certain herbs and spices such as black pepper (kalimirch), cinnamon (dalchini), cloves (laung) and so on. This drink helps strengthen your immunity and is also very helpful during cold & flu. Moreover, this drink is excellent for digestion as well. Some people also call this Masala Tea or Chai.

Before I share the recipe with you, let me share a recent experience related to this topic. If you want to skip this part, jump right into the recipe here.

For our new year’s celebration, we visited one of the most beautiful places in India. This place is called Fagu, Himachal Pradesh. We booked a beautiful Airbnb with an amazing host. The temperatures there dropped quite often to around -2 to -3 degree Celsius and we weren’t used to it. Hence, we needed to be careful because catching a flu in the middle of the pandemic and during a vacation would’ve been quite awful. And when we had the slightest of doubts, we reached out to Mr. Sharma (our host).

He made us one of the best Kadhas I’ve ever had. It instantly made us feel warm and we couldn’t have been more grateful. That’s when I decided I had to get the recipe from him before we left Fagu.

I have of course made some modifications to this recipe but it tastes quite the same. Another reason to have this more often as it reminds us of those beautiful mountains and the wonderful hospitality that we were blessed to receive.

Now coming to the recipe.

Following is the list of ingredients required for 2 cups of this Kadha:

2.5 cups water
1/2 tsp Ginger powder (You can also use fresh ginger if you don’t have ginger powder)
1 small Cinnamon stick
4-5 Cloves
4-5 Black peppercorns (sabut Kali mirch)
1 Star Anise
1 Black Cardamom (elaichi) (You can use green cardamom as substitute)
1/4 tsp Cardamom (elaichi) powder
1/2 tsp chai masala (You can use any good quality tea masala)
1 tsp Black tea leaves (You can use any good quality tea leaves)
3/4 tsp Stevia or to taste (Or Sweetener of your choice)

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a pot except the tea leaves and stevia and start heating on medium flame. Put the tea leaves and stevia when the water starts boiling. Let this mixture boil for 2-3 minutes and then strain into your cups and enjoy!

You can of course add turmeric as well, however, I prefer my Kadha without it.

Do try this out and share your thoughts with me.