Have you heard of Ajwain Leaf?
A yogi sister gave me a small stalk for me to plant. She said it's very easy to grow. Just put it in the ground. And sure enough, from one small stalk, it has become a big plant.
In Tamil, this plant is called 'Karpuravalli'. It has a nice smell, which I won't say it's pungent but it's not sweet fragrance either. It's leaves are very good for cough and cold and yesterday, I prepared a concoction using this leaf.
Hubby and I have been down with cold and cough. It started with him with a dry cough and sore throat which was under control with Septilin. Then a week later, I started with sore throat which went on into a head cold. Eventually my sinuses were blocked and there was lots of phlegm in my throat. I had a wet cough.
I took some cough mixture with guaifenisin to eliminate the excess mucous but it didn't really help much.
Then yesterday, hubby's dry cough came back and he was having lots of discomfort.
Suddenly I thought of this plant and googled and found a recipe at this blog. Here's my version of it as I did not have tulsi leaves.
Homemade remedy for cough and cold
Ingredients:
Ajwain leaf - 1 big leaf
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
Garlic - 1 clove
Tulsi leaf - 2 leaves (I omitted this as I don't have tulsi plant at home)
Asafoetida - a tiny pinch (don't use too much as the smell can be overpowering)
Rock salt - 1/8 tsp (Substituted with normal salt)
Whole black pepper - 2 nos (Substituted with a dash or two of black pepper powder)
Honey - optional
Water - 1/4 cup
Methods:
1. Wash the ajwain leaf nicely.
2. Crush the leaf and garlic.
3. Heat water with all the ingredients together.
4. Boil till water reduce to half. Let it cool down.
5. Original instructions is to grind it but since the quantity is too small for grinding, I just used a garlic presser and squeeze the leaf and garlic through the into water. Sieve it.
6. You will end up with a tablespoon (I used the soup spoon) of concoction.
7. Add a little bit of honey to sweeten the taste. But if you can take it as it is, then can leave out the honey.
I can tell you that this is a miracle concoction. Hubby and I took half spoonfuls each. The taste can be a little bit off-putting, but the honey was able to mask it. Immediately after taking, all my phlegm came out. Easily. My sinus clears off. My nose became unblocked.
As for hubby, his cough became controllable. He wasn't coughing as much and slept through the night.
I won't say that this concoction healed us immediately. But it has helped immensely. I read that you can also prepare the same concoction for toddlers but bear in mind, only children above 1 year old can take honey.
Disclaimer : If you have been sick for more than a week, it's wiser to consult a doctor to prevent any complications.
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