One of the most awaited festivals of the year, Diwali is just around the corner. Everyone is busy shopping for trendy clothes, crackers and designer diyas to ring in the festival. Elders and youngsters alike are planning parties at home, and womenfolk have already started preparing menus and making sweets and savouries that would be served to the guests.While gorging on some mouthwatering delicacies is always fun during the festive season, it’s important to ensure you don’t end up with an upset stomach because of over indulging. It might be difficult to control your appetite, especially if you are surrounded by great food, but here’s a sure-fire way by which you can avoid a stomach upset.
Elders in the family, from a very long time, have prepared a medicinal concoction at home, which is consumed the night before Diwali and also on the big day . In fact, feeding this medicine to youngsters in the family is almost a tradition in most South Indian households. Completely homemade and prepared from herbs and spices that are easily available, this concoction aids in healthy digestion.Once prepared, this medicine can be stored in a container for as many as 15 days, and a small amount of it can be consumed every day in the morning. Here’s how this homemade medicine is prepared:
INGREDIENTS
Ginger (A couple of pieces) Coriander seeds (50 g) Cumin seeds (50 g) Oregano (100 g) Black pepper corns (50 g) Long pepper (A couple of pieces) Jaggery (sliced, propor tionate to the medicinal herbs) Honey (2 tbsp) Ghee (4 tsp) Lemon (One slice)
METHOD
Dry the ginger, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, black pepper corn and long pepper in the sun for a day and pound them all together.Sift the powder through a sieve to make it fine and refined.H e a t one cup of water (or as required) in a kadai and add the ground powder when water starts boiling.Keep stirring so that the powder doesn’t form lumps. Continue stirring the mixture till it becomes semi-solid, like a fine gravy.
Alternatively, you can shallow roast the above ingredients in a kadai first, and powder them in a mixer with a cup of water till it becomes a paste. Now, transfer this paste on to the kadai again and start heating it up in low flame till it starts becoming semi-solid.
Meanwhile, slice a chunk of jaggery, amounting to about one cup, and add the same to this mixture.Continue stirring till the jaggery dissolves.
Keep stirring in low flame for about 30 minutes or till the concoction starts solidifying. Once every seven minutes or so, add a teaspoon of ghee and a little bit of honey to the mixture.
Once the potion reaches a semi-solid states, squeeze a slice of lemon on it. Switch off the flame and let it cool.To make sure the medicine is in correct form, try rolling it in between your fingers to form a small ball.
Remember that as the mixture cools, it will become even more solid.So, keep an eye on it while it’s on flame and switch off the gas if you feel it has reached its semi-solid state sooner.
Transfer to mixture to a clean container, and store it in a cool, dry place.