Ginger Tea - Home remedy for cough

Serves 3 - 4

The weather here has been alternating between very warm days and cold ones. So we seem to be catching one bug after the other.Here in Germany, when it comes to kids,the doctors seem to very strongly stick to the old adage 'A cold treated lasts a week and cold left untreated lasts 7 days '.A trip to the Doctor's clinic for a cold is useless ,as they mostly send us back with some herbal medicine and ask us to wait it out for at least a week.So most of us resort to home remedies,as its real hard to watch the little ones suffer.This is one concoction that my mom makes when we have a persistent cough.It's very effective and the combo of honey and cinnamon makes it yummy too :) Once cup of this warm tea on a cold day can be heavenly !

You'll Need:

Ginger - 2" piece (chopped or crushed )

Whole Pepper Corns - 4 -5 

Cinnamon - 2 long sticks

Cloves -3 - 4

Orange Peel - A small piece

Turmeric Powder - 1 pinch
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Candied Palm Sugar / Panakarkandu - 6 -7 crystals
Honey - 2 -3 tbsp

Method:
-Add all the ingredients except the honey to a small vessel.
-Add about 2 -3 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
-When it starts boiling reduce the flame and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.Remove it from the stove.
-Pour the mixture into another vessel fitted with a tea strainer to filter it.
-Makes about 3 small cups of tea.Add one tablespoon of honey to each cup and mix well.More effective when it's had real warm.
-For kids,dilute it with half the quantity of water and increase the amount of honey.

Note:

-Ginger is very good at simulating blood flow and warming the body.So about three small glasses of this tea in a day is very beneficial.

Thanks for stopping by ! Have a great day !

Sending this to Heart and Soul Blog hop hosted by Swathi @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen 

Galia Melon and Strawberry Smoothie & The ramblings of a Book lover !

Makes 4 cups
       I'm not sure if a smoothie actually qualifies for a recipe :) It's a perfect post for a lazy person like me,clean the fruits ,chop it,add to the blender and 'Blend it like 'whoever u want''.Blending actually reminds me of a Will Smith movie where he searches for his Blender the whole time :) I was happy to see many of you guys commenting about how much you love reading .So just thought that I should mention about the book that I was reading,now u give me a chance to ramble,I'll grab it :) I was reading a book called 'Gravity' by 'Tess Garristen' .A very interesting novel, a medical thriller actually where a scientific experiment goes haywire in a space station. I really loved it as it gives a very beautiful picture about space,space stations and astronauts. Though towards the end it was like watching the movie

Aliens and got me spooked:)
        I love books and I keep stocking them up. I generally love reading thrillers,historical novels, fiction and philosophical novels. I love books from Ken Follet,Lee Child and Paulo Coelho,to name a few. Another author who I've recently started enjoying is Mary Higgins Clark,as a kid I loved Nancy Drew and Clark's books are like Nancy Drew for grown ups. As a kid I used to love classics too,but these days I've lost interest in them.I actually thought that you love classics as you grow older & mature,but looks like it's the other way with me. I've been blessed with a beautiful library near my house.It's the state library,stocked with German books but they do have a  very good foreign language section.We find amazing books in English,French and Turkish. I simply love the library and the smell of old books :) If given a choice I would always buy a second hand book rather than a new book : )        
        I've generally noticed that people think that women read only romance or drama.I know this nice library in commercial street in Bangalore.The first day I visited them, the librarian got me registered and took me to a section full of drama & romance and asked me to help myself. I do read drama occasionally and I don't have anything against those novels,but I seriously don't understand this prejudice :) So just wondering, what genre of books do you enjoy reading and who are your favorite authors ,I'll be really glad to know.So off to the smoothie. A very healthy and delightful combo.....

You'll Need:
Galia Melon - 1
Straw berries - 12 - 15
Sugar or honey - 2 tbsp

Method:
-Cut the Galia Melon,remove the seeds and scoop out the flesh.
-Clean the strawberries and remove the stem.Chop them.
-Add the flesh of galia melon,strawberries and sugar to a blender and blend until done.

Thanks for stopping by ! Happy Blending !

Sending this to Foodabulous fest organized by Simply Tadka and hosted by Sajna Bishar of Saju's Tastes and Fast ! Fresh ! Simple! happening at Cooking with Sapna

Masala Tea

Serves 3

The gentle aroma of this spicy tea can be very relaxing.This is my father's special tea.We would love it when he makes it for all of us,and no matter how hard I try I can never make it as good as him :) Curled up on a sofa with this hot tea ,biscuits and a good book on a rainy day would be simply awesome I guess :)

Ingredients:
Milk - 1/2 liter
Tea powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Ginger - a small piece
Masala powder - 3/4th tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp per cup of tea
Spice powder :
  Cinnamon - 2 sticks
  Cardamon - 5
   Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
   Cloves - 4
   Ginger powder - 1 tsp
   Peppercorns - 2

 
Method:
-Grind the spices for the spice powder in a blender.
-Boil the milk. Let it cool a little.Mash the ginger in a mortar, coarsely.
-To the boiled milk add the ginger,spice powder,tea powder and let it cook on medium, when it starts to boil simmer it for 5 -7 mins on low heat.Keep stirring it if it tries to overflow.
-Strain the tea into a cup ,add sugar and mix well. It's done!

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