Curries & Stories: healthy drink

3rd October

We are finally into October! Mahalaya is just around the corner which means its time for Durga Puja! And Durga Puja definitely means grabbing on a lot of good food. So to prepare yourself for this festive season it is always recommended to keep a healthy detox drink as part of your regular diet plan.

Hence I am starting October on a healthy note by sharing a favorite detox drink - Kokam juice. This tarty and citrusy fruit is a favorite among the Konkans and is widely available in the Malabar regions of India. You can find many dishes like dal and curries being made with Kokum in Maharashtra.

My tryst with Kokum started with Sol kadi - a flavorful concoction of Kokum, water, coconut milt, ginger and green chili. Its a lovely summer drink here in Maharashtra and I absolutely love it with a fish curry thali specifically. Slowly I started exploring and knowing more amount this amazing fruit and what all you can do with this little wonder fruit.

Kokum comes with an array of known health benefits. The presence of vitamin C helps boost immunity, the garcinol it contains has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergenic properties. But what has brought kokum into the spotlight is the presence of hydroxyl citric acid (HCA) in it, which is said to shrink appetite and reduce fat in the body, further helping you lose weight, the healthy way. It has become a new fad to include Kokum juice in your regular diet for healthy weight loss. You must have also heard some Bollywood celebs taking about Kokum drink as their preferred post workout drink.

Kokum juice or kokum sharbat will not only cool you down your body but also help detoxify your body. You can include this in your early morning routine and it will work wonders for you. The recipe is also very simple, you can just create the Kokum Juice paste in advance and use it to prepare your detox drink anytime you want. I am sharing two recipes with Kokum below. Check them out below.

Soaking Time: 1-2 Hr

Preparation Time : 5 minutes

Cooking Time : 5 minutes

Serves - 3 glasses

Ingredients :

Dry Kokum - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Ground Roasted Whole Jeera (Cumin) - 1 tsp
Black Salt/ Rock salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 4 tbsp ( adjust as per taste)

Equipment:

Vessel
Strainer
Masher

Kokum Juice : Method

1. Soak some kokum in water and remove the seeds.

2. After 1-2 hours of soaking, strain the water and keep aside the water.

3. Now in a mixer grinder, take the soaked kokum and add half of the water. Make a smooth paste.

4. Dry roast some cumin seeds. Roughly pound the roasted cumin seeds it in a mortar pestle. Keep this ground roasted cumin seed aside.

4. Take a pan, add the remaining kokum water and add the sugar. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes till the sugar melts.

5. Now add the Kokum paste to this water. Give it a good stir. Cook for 5 more minutes and bring it to a boil.

6. Now let the mixture cool. Once the mixture has cooled strain it.

7. Now add the roasted cumin seed powder and salt to this and give a nice stir. Your Kokum juice paste is ready. Store it in a jar. You can refrigerate it for a week.

To make the juice, take 2 tbsp of the pulp and add chilled water to it and give a nice stir. Add a few ice cubes and a sprinkle of ground roasted cumin seeds. It is best served chilled.

Kokum Water : Method

1. Soak a handful of kokum in water overnight. Strain out the water next morning and drink it by warming up a bit. Add a little seasoning of your choice. You can store this water for later usage as well.

Note: You can use the soaked Kokums to prepare the Juice paste as detailed above.

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8 August

The last week ended on a little melancholous note, we bid a final adieu to a close friend who has now become a star in the sky. I didn't mention about this earlier as we were a all quite shaken from the suddenness of the news. A beautiful soul gone too soon but now in hindsight I feel, we will always cherish her as a wonderful person who really was elemental in bringing together some strangers and making us the best buddies before she went. She is now living in a much more peaceful zone and I wish her all the happiness. The day that followed also came with a glitch. I pulled a muscle along my rib line and it is not a very pleasant thing to live with the painful feeling from last couple of days. I direly needed something to sooth my nerves and feel a little better. The tisane I had recently got came to the rescue in a heroic manner I must say.

Herbal teas—less commonly but more properly called tisanes —are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. They are infusions made from leaves, bark, roots, berries, seeds, and spices. Common tisanes include mint, chamomile, verbena, and rooibos. White, green, oolong, black teas come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, which has caffeine. Interestingly on the other hand, tisanes, steep parts of other plants in water to produce a flavored, hot drink, and most are caffeine-free.

Now Herbal tea is not something which has suddenly come into existence due to elevated sense of health consciousness now a days. It existed in several forms in old times as well. References of Herbal teas can be found in famous fictions as well. For an example, if you have read Agatha Christie’s novels then you will undoubtedly know the famous Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot is! He is a highly intelligent person with an amazing understanding of the criminal mind. As per the author, Hercule was not a lover of traditional tea, but preferred to drink the herbal variety. His favorite was chamomile based which allowed him to relax and would let his little grey cells work for him.

I think this is where I resonate with Hercule! No seriously. I have had the luxury of tasting different tea blends especially in the past few years, courtesy to one of my close friend. And I can undoubtedly say that Chamomile tea has been a constant favorite tisane after a rose tea blend. I love the soothing aroma. It has in real a nerve calming effect.

So when Glenberg Organics asked me to sample any tisane form their wonderful range I didn't take a while to decide my favorite pick - the Natures Classic. By the way this is not a sponsored post so I do mean every word of praise I am about to pen down. It has Chamomile, hibiscus, rose and lavender that has anti inflammatory characteristics and helps in having a healthy gut. It comes in a pretty 25 gm jar and will soon become your jar of happiness. When I got it first I was a little skeptic to be honest, as not all tisane experience has been good for me. But the first time I made it and took in the beautiful soothing aroma, I was happy with the product. After the taste test I can give it a good thumbs up for creating a light and lovely blend. It is a little pricy but every penny is worth the tea experience that you are going to have! The Glenberg Organics tisanes are easily available in Amazon. You can also checkout their Instagram page for more updates.

This is one of my most favorite shoots in recent time so this blog post is going to have a lot many photos than usual. Actually tea is something where only photos should speak and we should just sit back and enjoy each frame.

There are a lot of firsts in this shoot - first experience of shooting a floral frame, first professional photoshoot for a tea brand, first time did the moody editing in lightroom (and totally loved it), first time had a wonderful tisane and many more such small firsts. I have recently started maintaining a journal to pen down daily learnings. I call it "Lets upgrade myself" and the objective is that by the time the year ends I would make myself a better version of myself on many aspects than I was a year ago. Some of these firsts would definitely find a place in that journal. And all those who are reading my blog right now, believe me however lame it may sound to keep a journal, when you read back all your doings and achievements at the end of the year, it doesn't sound lame anymore, you can actually see how much you grew in a year. I really didn't have any faith in journaling before but during lockdown I started a random journal just to have some peace of mind and now when I read about all those snippets it makes me relive all those moments lost in time. Give it a try sometime and you wont regret.

There is really no elaborate process to this tea. But still I recommend a few ways to make it. The first process is with pure tisane steeped in water. And the second process is tisane with a mix of CTC tea to give it more body and a little tea-ness. The second way is my favorite. Do check out both and let me know which one you like better.

Standard Process

Preparation Time : 5 minutes

Steeping Time : 4 - 5 minutes

Temperature : 90 Degrees

Ingredients :

Glenberg Organic Natures Classic - 1/4 tsp or 2 gm
Honey - as per taste
Water - 200 ml

Equipment:

Milk Pan
Strainer

Procedure:

1. Take a pan with 200 ml water and let it heat to 90 Degrees.

2. Now add 2 gm of Natures Classic tea

3. Let it steep for 4-5 minutes for the flavors to come out.

4. Pour honey in your tea cup. Now strain the steeped tea in the cup, give it a stir and enjoy!

Note: You can enjoy the tea without any sweetener as well.

My Favorite Process

I like this process better because it gives the goodness of both a real tea and a tisane. And especially if you like a little color in your tea then this is the best way to go.

Preparation Time : 3 minutes

Steeping Time : 2 - 3 minutes

Temperature : 100 Degrees

Ingredients :