Homemade remedies to bust your cold

Raid your cupboards for some time-tested recipes

December 18, 2015 05:04 pm | Updated 05:04 pm IST - chennai:

Three days of turmeric milk will have you back on your feet.

Three days of turmeric milk will have you back on your feet.

Has the cool weather given you the sniffles or a hacking cough? Try these time-tested home remedies to soothe sore throats and runny noses that will take you no further than the kitchen shelf.

Turmeric milk

Curcumin is the main anti-inflammatory ingredient in turmeric (manjal/haldi). Used as a healing agent for skin disorders, turmeric is also useful for quick relief from sore throats. Among the most common cures for sore throat in India is mixing half a teaspoon each of turmeric powder and crushed black pepper and boiling it in a cup of milk; the milk is strained and sweetened mildly with honey or sugar before drinking it. Three days of manjal paal/haldi doodh will have you back on your feet.

Pepper-honey soother

To stop dry cough instantly, mix a generous pinch of powdered pepper in a tablespoon of honey and swallow it. It’s more effective if you supplement the concoction by drinking hot water and wrapping up your throat against the chill breeze.

Palm candy remedies

Panakarkandu or palm candy is commonly used in south Indian native medicine to treat throat ulcers. The simplest way is to boil up a cup of milk, which is sweetened with a spoon of powdered palm candy. Another remedy, usually for dry cough, is to powder equal measures of pepper, palm candy and roasted Bengal gram (pottu kadalai), to be eaten whenever your throat feels itchy.

Betel leaf juice

This usually works for infants and young children, though you won’t be very popular with them for pouring the fiery concoction down their throat. In a mortar, pound a betel leaf, a few peppercorns and a clove of garlic. Strain the juice and mix it with honey. This is usually administered to young kids with the help of a silver ‘sanku’.

Decoctions

– Roast and grind dried ginger (sukku), coriander seeds and pepper. Bring to boil in a cup of water and add a teaspoon of coffee powder (optional). The decoction, called ‘sukku malli kaapi’ in Tamil, works to relieve heavy chest colds and symptoms of fever.

– Roast aniseed and boil in a cup of water, which has been sweetened with palm candy or sugar. Strain and add a spoon of ghee before drinking to cure a dry cough.

– When cooking rice, collect a cup of the starchy water at first boil; add a spoon of ghee and drink to slay a dry cough.

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