Clove-Tea

#CloveTea : I have been making an aromatic powder mix since 2015 using various spices. It is used in the preparation of an aromatic drink that would lift up one's sagging energy during intense work at office or anywhere else and refresh both mind and body. It took me so long to share its preparation with you all as I didn't click photos every time whenever I made the powder.

When we were in Mysore, my husband told me that he couldn't serve tea for visitors as there was no tea shops near his workshop. He asked his office staff to make black tea with lemon. But that wasn't working well. During that time I watched a health show on a TV channel where a dietician told taking clove tea would be refreshing while on work at office. So I powdered a small quantity of cloves and asked him to try tea from it. The next day he served cloves tea and everyone started asking what kind of tea it was! One of his office staff added some cardamom powder to it. The new powder mixture of clove and cardamom was a great hit among his office staffs and visitors as well. My husband told me that everyone started demanding clove tea or visiting him only to taste clove tea.

Subsequently my husband asked me to make clove tea powder in large quantity since the demand has risen sharply. Haha... I then started making aromatic clove tea powder twice a month!!

Now we are living at Chittaranjan in West Bengal and we came here and set up home in the month of July last year. Here again he asked for same tea powder for his office. I supplied him and saved some portion from it for home visitors. Daily I have been serving clove tea to our gardener, house keeper, helper and maid in the morning. I am regularly preparing Clove tea powder once in two months or according to the need.

#Clove : #Cloves are aromatic flower buds of a medium size tree which grows to a height of 8 - 12 m. It belongs to Myrtaceae family and its scientific name is Syzygium aromaticum. It is widely used as spice due to its aromatic and flavorful nature.  It has been in use as medicine in traditional medicines for many centuries. In traditional medicine, the oil extracted from cloves contains a substance called eugenol. It is effective in the treatment of tooth ache and other types of pain.
Cloves are rich in antioxidant.
Cloves are antimicrobial and found to be effective against several bacteria and fungal strains.
Cloves are antiviral also
The tea made from cloves,, cinnamon and cardamom drives away cold due to its microbial activity and anti viral property..
Cloves promote digestion and help the system to absorb nutrients well into the system.
Cloves are good at preventing acidity and also dispel gas.

Source : Cloves

#Cinnamon : #Cinnamon is the common name for several species of tree whose inner bark is used as a spice in a variety of cuisine world over. The commercial product, sheets of inner bark from these trees is also known by the name Cinnamon. These species belong to the genus Cinnamomum in the family Lauraceae.
Ground Cinnamon composed of around 11% water, 81% carbohydrates [ including 53% dietry fiber ], 4% protein and 1% fat. A sample amount 100 gm of cinnamon powder contains Calcium [ 100 % of daily value, DV ], Iron [  64 % DV ]and Vitamin K  [ 30 % DV ]
Traditionally used in cuisines as a flavoring agent and as a digestive aide in traditional medicine.
A study shows that regular intake of cinnamon reduces cholesterol and triglycerides.
Cinnamon is rich in antioxidants
Cinnamon has anti inflammatory properties
Cinnamonis good for our heart

Source : Cinnamon

#Cardamom : Cardamom is a strong flavorful spice of seeds of several plants in the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the family Zingiberaceae. It is used in cuisines extensively for its unique taste, strong flavor and intense aroma.
Cardamom is also rich in antioxidant and diuretic which help to lower blood pressure.
It is anti inflammatory and helps to treat digestive problems including ulcers.
It has antibacterial properties that helps in the treatment of infections.

Source : Cardamom

I usually prepare clove tea powder mainly using cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. But recently I have started including black pepper as it is rich in antioxidant, anti inflammatory property, improves brain function, lower cholesterol level and also improves gut health. Also because It has been in use since ancient times as the best home remedy for cold, cough and fever.
I also included a small piece of nutmeg last time when I ground powder for its intense flavor and felt that the drink happens to be even more tastier than before.

I have been searching the web world for the past two - three days to gain knowledge about these spices to write this post. After going through various articles in wikipedia and other websites, I realized that I have been making this aromatic powder for a long time without knowing its real value. Now I can firmly say that the drink made from this powder is not only refreshing but also a health booster.

Ingredients :
1/2 Cup	Clove
6 - 8	Cardamom [ can add more also ]
1 Tsp	Cinnamon powder OR
2 - 3 pieces	Cinnamon stick
1 Tsp	Black Pepper [ Optional ]
Small piece	Nutmeg [ Optional ]

Method of making Powder :
Heat a kadai on a stove over slow flame.
First add Cardamom once the kadai becomes hot.
Stir for a minute and then add Cloves.
Keep stirring till cloves slightly become hot and emanates aroma.
Take care not to roast them till they start smoking.
Turn off the stove.
Keep stirring for two to three minutes.
Transfer into a bowl or plate and allow to cool down.

Then take all the ingredients in a mixie jar.
Grind into a fine powder.
If the jar gets heated up stop running the mixie.
Wait for some time and then resume again.
Store in a clean and dry bottle.

Always use a clean & dry spoon to take powder from the bottle.

Making Clove Tea :
Tea can be brewed in two ways.

Method I :
Heat one tea cup of water in a vessel and bring it to boil.
Add 2 pinches of prepared #CloveTeaPowder.
Reduce flame and simmer for a minute.
Turn of the stove and strain through a filter.
Transfer into a tea cup.
Serve Hot without adding anything.
Or add honey or jaggery powder. [ recommended ]
Or add sugar for taste.



Method II :
Put two pinches of #CloveTeaPowder in a tea cup.
Pour hot water over it.
Close the cup with a lid.
Wait for 2 to 3 minutes.

Ah!! Super aromaa!!...
If available drop some crushed pieces of Mint [ Pudina ] leaf or Karpooravalli [ Omavalli ] leaf or Tulsi [ Holy Basil ] leaf over the tea.
Enjoy a sip at a time.!!
Definitely you will feel rejuvenated!!

You might also like to try

Bael fruit - Vilva pazha juice

Ammaan Pacharisi Thuvaiyal

Green Tea with Tulsi & Orange

Mango Milk Shake

Lemon Rasam with Vallarai

For other Juice, Soups and Porridge varieties

Refreshments


For all other dishes

Recipe Index

Papaya-Soup

#PapayaSoup : #GreenPapaya or #UnripePapaya is full of essential nutrients that helps to control our digestive system. The anti amoebic and anti parasitic property of #papaya controls bowel movement. It is very helpful to cure indigestion, acid reflux, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, heart burn and gastric problem. It is also helpful in regulating blood pressure and an anti oxidant also.
So it is advisable to include such a healthy vegetable in our daily menu. #RawPapaya [ unripe papaya ] can be used in the preparation of salad, lentil, sambar, more kuzhambu.
Here let me present a soup prepared with papaya.

Ingredients :
1/2 cup	Unripe papaya finely chopped
1 Tbsp	Onion finely chopped
1 tsp	Garlic finely chopped
1/2 tsp	Coriander leaves finely chopped
1 Tbsp	Buckwheat flour*
1/2 tsp	salt [ adjust ]
1 tsp	Black pepper powder
1/2 tsp	Pudhina leaves dried [ optional ]

*If buckwheat flour is not available then oats or corn flour can be used.

Method :

• Boil 1 1/4 cup of water in a vessel over medium flame.
• When water starts boiling add garlic, onion and papaya.
• Reduce the flame and cook till papaya becomes soft.
• Now dissolve buckwheat flour in 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl.
• Pour buckwheat mixed water into boiling papaya soup.
• Stir continuously till it comes to porridge consistency.
• Add salt and coriander leaves. mix well.
• Turn off the stove and pour into soup bowls.
• Serve hot topping the soup with pepper powder and dried pudhina [ mint ] leaves.

You may also like to try

Vegetable clear soup

Mushroom buckwheat soup

Green coriander buckwheat soup

Bael fruit - Vilva pazha juice

Muskmelon Mint juice

Pappaya Soup

Aam Panna - Raw Mango Juice

Varagarisi Venthaya Kanji

Tea

#Tea : Tea as a beverage has actually originated from China. They consumed tea for medicinal purposes. Slowly it has become the most popular beverages of the world. Britishers introduced Tea plantation and tea drinking culture in India.
Preparing Tea is an art. There are different methods of brewing tea. Mostly boiling water is poured over dried tea leaves to get the tea decoction. Chinese used to consume tea without cream/milk.
But we used to drink tea by adding milk along with sugar into the tea decoction.

In North India tea is prepared by adding tea leaves/powder, Ginger, cardamom, masala powders with the milk. It is boiled for sometime to get the desired taste. The taste of this tea is strongly flavored with masala than the aroma of tea.
But I used to make tea with or without masala but allow it to brew for 2 minutes or less than 2 minutes only.
This way I try to get the taste and aroma of the tea.
Here let me present my way of preparing tea with ginger.

Ingredients given below are enough to prepare two tea cups. 
Ingredients :
2 Tsp                                 Tea leaves
2 Tsp                                 Sugar
1 cup                                 Water
3/4 cup                              Milk
1/2 inch                              Ginger, clean and smash [ optional ]

Method :
Boil water in a vessel.
When water begins to boil, then turn off the stove.
Add tea leaves.
Then add ginger[ if desired ].

Keep it closed with a lid for 2 minutes.

After 2 minutes, strain the decoction through a tea filter into a cup.

Meanwhile boil milk in an another vessel.

Now mix decoction and milk.

Add sugar and mix well.

Pour into a tumbler.

Serve hot by keeping the tumbler inside another small bowl called dabaraa.
This is the traditional way of serving foaming tea in Tamil Nadu, a state of India.

Other green tea you may like to try

Tulasi-Orangepeel Green Tea

Green Tea with Sweet Lime

Green Tea with Mint

Green Tea with Lemon

Refreshments

Links to recipes of #Refreshments like #beverage, #juice, #soup, #porridge and other #drink.

Beverage

• Use the picture grid below to go to the posts of #GreenTea
• Hover the cursor over image to know the name of the recipe
• Click on the image to take you to the recipe

Green Tea
Green Tea with Tulasi	Green Tea with Sweet Lime	Green Tea with Mint
Green Tea with Lemon	Green Tea with Tulasi,Orange & Ginger	Clove Tea
Tulasi Herbal Tea	Lemon Tea - Lebu Cha

Tea

Ginger tea

Juice

Watermelon Juice

Aam Panna
Bael fruit - Vilva pazham Juice
Lemon Ginger Juice
Mango Milk Shake

Mango Milk Shake with Tulasi
Mint Concentrate
Muskmelon Juice
Muskmelon Maangai [ raw mango ] Juice
Muskmelon Mango Juice
Muskmelon Mint Juice
Muskmelon  Orange Juice
Muskmelon Tulasi Juice
Neer More - Buttermilk
Panakam - Lemon Juice with Jaggery
Watermelon Juice
Watermelon - Apple Juice
Watermelon - Orange Juice





Soup

• Use the picture grid below to go to the posts of #Soup
• Hover the cursor over image to know the name of the recipe
• Click on the image to take you to the recipe

Vegetable clear soup	Mushroom buckwheat soup	Green coriander buckwheat soup
Coriander soup	Papaya soup	Mushroom soup
Mushroom Palak soup	Tomato soup

Porridge/Gruel

Samai kanji [ little millet porridge ]	Kezhvaragu koozh [ Finger millet gruel ]	Kambu koozh [ pearl millet gruel ]
Kuthiraivaali venthaya kanji	Broken wheat porridge	Broken maize porridge
Varagarisi [ kodo millet ] venthaya kanji	Quinoa Conjee [ Quinoa Soup ]

For Other Dishes

Recipe Index