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Kadha with tulsi

A decoction of tulsi, cinnamon, black pepper, dried ginger and raisins: the Indian household remedy for colds.

Traditional use

Time
20 minutes
Makes
2 cups
Tulsi (holy basil)

Kadha is the Hindi word for a decoction. In Indian homes it is made at the first signs of a cold. In 2020 India's Ministry of AYUSH, which oversees Ayurveda, recommended it for the immune system: once or twice a day a kadha of tulsi, cinnamon, black pepper, dried ginger and raisins, flavoured with jaggery or lemon juice.

Ingredients

  • 8–10 tulsi leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
  • 1 small piece of cinnamon
  • 4–5 black peppercorns, crushed
  • ½ tsp ground ginger or a few slices of fresh ginger
  • 6 raisins
  • 500 ml water
  • Jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) or lemon juice to taste

Step by step

  1. Put everything except the jaggery and lemon in a pan with the water.
  2. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until about 300 ml is left.
  3. Strain, flavour with jaggery or lemon juice and drink warm.

Tips

  • Tulsi (holy basil) is sold dried in Indian shops; ordinary basil is a different plant.

Registry

Herbs in this recipe

Read more about effects and safety on each herb’s page.

  • Caution

    Asia · Herb · № 40

    Tulsi (holy basil)

    Ocimum tenuiflorum

    An aromatic plant drunk as herbal tea; treatment claims are not established.

    Ayurveda
  • Caution

    Asia · Food · № 38

    Cinnamon

    Cinnamomum verum

    A spice made from inner bark. Research on health effects is preliminary; cinnamon is not a treatment.

    Ayurveda+8Folklore
  • Caution

    Asia · Herb · № 135

    Black pepper and long pepper

    Piper nigrum

    Important warming spices in Ayurveda, used for sluggish digestion and colds. Piperine from pepper increases the absorption of some substances, such as curcumin.

    Ayurveda+5Folklore
  • Caution

    Asia · Herb · № 1

    Ginger

    Zingiber officinale

    Traditionally used for nausea and digestive discomfort; it has a warming flavor.

    Ayurveda+6Folklore
  • Caution

    Europe · Food · № 245

    Grape

    Vitis vinifera

    Traditionally attributed effects: soothing, laxative, cooling, stomachic, diuretic; for bilious indigestion, bleeding, painful urination, chronic bronchitis, heart disease, gout; juice for constipation in children.

    Folk magic and herbal magic+3Folklore

Cultures and traditions

Where the herbs come from

The herbs in this recipe also appear in these traditions.