Kashaya Drink | Instant Kashaya Recipe | How to make Kashaya?

Kashaya drink recipe with step-by-step photos and instructions. Konkani kashaya recipe.

Learn how to make Kashaya health drink at home with multiple variations. A popular drink from Karnataka, Kashaya is a great, healthy substitute to tea and coffee.

Kashaya is also known, more commonly, as jeerige kashaya in Karnataka. It is also known as ‘Kasaay‘ in Konkani.

If you are a tea or coffee addict this is a drink you must give a try. We at home have slowly switched over to this nutritious yet flavourful health drink. Drinking tea or coffee late in the evening interferes with sleep. It makes you alert and you will find it difficult to snooze off.

Tea is our favourite beverage. However, I wanted to reduce its consumption and substitute it with something healthy. This coriander-jeera kashayam is not only flavourful and palatable but provides numerous health benefits when consumed over a period of time. Moreover, the wafting aroma of freshly brewed kashaya milk will leave you nourished only desiring for more!

What is Kashayam? / What is kashaya in ayurveda?

Kashayam is an Ayurvedic term. It is a generic term that refers to medicinal concoctions in Ayurveda. Hence, Kashayam is an extract or decoction of a single or many herbs used to treat different ailments.

The Kashaya tea recipe shared here is a herbal drink prepared using milk and water that is infused with dry spices. It is one of the best substitute for tea or coffee. Don’t worry you will not get addicted to it and if you do then good health is the only side effect it has!

What is Kashaya Drink?

Kashaya is one of the traditional healthy hot beverages prepared using milk, water and sugar that is simmered with different spices. This homemade health drink is mildly sweet and aromatic.

The beauty of kashaya is there are no right or wrong proportions to this recipe. You can prepare it using any combination or ratio of water, milk and spices. This kashaya tea recipe is highly adaptable.

Kashayam Powder

If you love kashaya, you can prepare kashayam powder in bulk and keep it handy. However, you will have to dry roast the spices mildly to increase the shelf life. Also, do not prepare a very large batch as the ground spices lose their aroma over time. Do check out the homemade kashaya powder recipe below:-

Kashaya Powder

Below you can see some of the ingredients used to make kashaya powder.

Kashaya tea made using freshly ground spices tastes heavenly.

Key Ingredients

The 2 key ingredients of the Kashaya drink are:-

1. Coriander seeds
2. Cumin seeds

The above 2 ingredients are indispensable in Kashaya. This is the basic requirement for the kashaya recipe. Do try out with these two ingredients first and then experiment with other combinations.

Other Optional Ingredients

In addition to the above indispensable ingredients, you can use many other spices available in your kitchen. Below is a list of different spices you can use in the kashaya tea.

1. Pepper
2. Cloves
3. Fennel seeds (Badishep)
4. Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds)
5. Dried ginger (a small piece or powder)
6. Turmeric (a small piece or powder)
7. Green cardamom

Note: Pepper and dried ginger will add heat to the kashaya and make it spicy. Add with caution lest it becomes too pungent.

Besides the 2 vital ingredients (i.e. coriander and cumin seeds) you can add one or more of the above ingredients. However, do not add too many as the taste of the kashaya may become unpalatable.

Experiment different combinations to see which one you like the most. I prefer to add pepper or methi seeds in addition to the main ingredients.

Milk to Water ratio in Kashaya drink

The kashaya recipe is very flexible. You can use your desired ratio of milk and water. If you do not like much milk, add more water and vice versa. You can also prepare it completely in milk too. Try out different variations and see which suits you the best.

Kashaya tea benefits

Kashaya is a great way to bring the goodness of different spices into your diet. Diverse spices will offer you varied health benefits.

Here are some of the benefits of this immunity boosting kashaya:-

1. Kashaya is a soothing homemade digestive drink that improves general well being.
2. It is fairly suitable for people with all types of constitutions.
3. Balances Pitta, Vata and Kapha doshas. (These are body doshas referred in Ayurveda. Imbalance in the doshas gives rise to diseases.)
4. Kashaya tea has a dual effect. In summers it cools the body whereas during winters it keeps you warm and boosts your immunity. Hence it can be consumed during all seasons.
5. It soothes the throat. Keep sipping hot kashaya if you have a dry, sore or itchy throat.
6. Kashaya is a great homemade digestive drink. It stimulates the digestive fire.
7. Kashaya relieves anxiety and calms your nerves. It keeps mood swings in check.
8. Eliminates toxins from the body if consumed regularly.
9. Improves sleep quality.
10. Kashaya tea helps manage cravings. If you crave for tea or coffee late in the evening try kashaya milk.
11. If your kids don’t like milk, try introducing this wholesome kashaya milk. Kashaya is way better than using readymade health drink powders to flavour milk.
12. We should have warm healthy drinks for winter and Kashaya is the best bet.

In addition to the above benefits, kashaya will offer many more advantages, depending on the spices used. So go ahead and prepare yourself a piping hot cup of kashaya!

Tips for Kashaya drink

1. Proportions: As I have already mentioned Kashaya recipe is very flexible. You can play around with the ratios of milk and water. Also choose the combination of desired spices. However, keep in mind that the kashaya will taste different for different combos.
2. Heat: Pepper and dried ginger will add heat to the kashaya and make it spicy. Add with caution lest it becomes too pungent.
3. The key to get a flavourful kashaya is to brew it well. Keep simmering till the colour changes and the decoction reduces a bit.
4. Freshly ground spices give a alluring aroma. If you drink kashaya everyday then you can grind the spices in bulk. However, store in an airtight container.
5. You can skip milk entirely and prepare only with water. Just add some extra water. However, it will taste more like a kadha (decoction).

How is Kashaya served in South India?

In South Indian restaurants, tea, coffee or kashaya is served in a stainless steel Tumbler and Dabarah (or Dawara). The Tumbler is a small cup whereas the Dabarah is a container in which the tumbler is kept.

There are many reasons behind this. It helps in mixing the ingredients (especially sugar) thoroughly. Also, it helps in cooling the beverage by pouring it back and forth between the tumbler and dabarah. The pouring of kashaya starts from the tumbler being close to the dabarah and then is dragged higher up.

This allows you to enjoy the beverage at a sipping temperature. It also helps in aerating the solution and makes it frothy. I have a brass tumbler and dabarah and just love to enjoy my kashaya drink in it.

(Traditionally, South Indian filter coffee is served in a brass dawara set. In addition to brass being thought to have therapeutic properties, the thick walls of the tumbler contain heat and keep the coffee hot until the last sip.)

How to make Kashaya?

1. Take the desired quantity of milk and water. (Refer recipe card for proportions). Add milk to a deep bottomed vessel.

2. Next add water to it. Take coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a mortar pestle. I have added peppercorns from the optional list of ingredients. You can add your desired spices from the given list. However, do not add too many as the taste of the kashaya may become unpalatable.

3. Pound the spices till an aroma is released. You need not crush the spices into a fine powder.

4. Add the crushed spices to the milk-water solution.

Or if you have homemade kashaya powder, you can add that instead of crushed spices as shown below.

5. On medium flame bring the kashaya drink to a boil.

6. Let the kashaya drink come to a rolling boil. Then keeping the flame low, simmer the kashaya for 10-15 mins. Stir in between.

7. Once the colour of the milk changes to slight cream or yellow colour, add sugar and stir well.

8. You will observe that the spices settle to the bottom once the coriander-jeera kashaya tea is done. Strain and serve hot. Enjoy!