Indian Spices

Indian Spices

India is a vast country which is famous for its food and its taste all over the world. Great taste, delicious aroma, unique color of the food which comes from different spices are the reason which makes it so popular. These spices are used for thousands of years in every Indian house. Indian spices are known as the world’s best and the most popular spices because of its taste, appealing aroma and above all its medicinal value. Indian spices are used to cure ailments from ancient age. Due to such a huge range of spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, black pepper, red chili, fenugreek etc., the taste of Indian food is so great.

People make powder, paste or even whole to use these spices in various forms in their food.

Roast, raw or paste whatever way you add, it always gives a unique flavor and aroma. In this blog I will mention about Indian spices used for their medicinal properties and how to use them. Let’s start with Turmeric which we use it in almost every dish.

Turmeric- Turmeric is the spice which gives our food it’s yellow color and contains compounds with medicinal properties. These compounds are called curcuminoids, the most important of which is curcumin. It has anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant. Curcumin has become the 21^stcentury wonder botanical because of its potential to treat and heal several ailments. Ayurvedic medicine, a traditional Indian system of treatment, recommends turmeric for a variety of health conditions.  It helps to prevent various inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases and even arthritis. It modulates pain, regulates immune system, suppresses inflammation.

Mainly the root of turmeric is used  widely to make medicine. It is also used to treat headaches, cold, lung infections, bronchitis, fever and depression. Warm turmeric water on an empty stomach helps the body to burn excess flab, improves digestion and metabolism.

Today I will share a very easy and healthy beverage for cough, cold and congestion. We call it Haldi Doodh or turmeric milk.

You will need- 1 fresh turmeric root or ¼ teaspoon of ground turmeric or 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder.

1/8 teaspoon of ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon of ground cardamom(optional)

¼ teaspoon of ground ginger

1 cup milk

¼ teaspoon of honey or to taste.

First mix turmeric, black pepper, cardamom and ginger in a bowl. Boil milk in a separate vessel. When the milk is boiled whisk 1 teaspoon of the above mixture and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add honey and your healthy turmeric milk is ready.

I generally serve this medicinal ayurvedic drink to my son when the seasons are about to change. This helps to build the immune system and fights cold or cough.

Turmeric is also used as a face mask for glowing skin. It’s a natural beauty product for your skin which exfoliates and improves skin texture. It helps to reduce pigmentation and even out the skin tone. Take 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric paste, few drops of honey and 3 tablespoons of milk. Make a paste of all these ingredients, apply it on your face and leave it for 20 minutes. Rinse off with cold water and apply moisturizer after that.

So that’s all about this amazing product Turmeric. In my next blog I will share another Indian spice with its medicinal properties and an easy healthy recipe with it. Keep reading.