10/31/2024
An antidote for digestion problems that may result from our festivity induced, gastronomic indulgences, Diwali Legiyam is a herbal medicine of sorts to strengthen the digestive system!
Ingredients (makes a cup of medicine):
Coriander (dhaniya) powder (1.5 tsp)
Black pepper powder (1 tsp)
Cumin (jeera) powder (1 tsp)
Dried ginger powder (1/2 tsp)
Cardamom (elaichi) powder (1/4 tsp)
Carom seeds (ajwain) (1/2 tsp)
Yashtimadhu (liquorice/mulethi/athimadhuram) powder (1/2 tsp)
Chitrak (sitharathai) powder (1/2 tsp) (Optional)
Pippali (long pepper) powder (1/2 tsp) (Optional)
Jaggery (I used karupatti vellam) (same quantity as the herbal powders mixed together)
Palm Candy (1/2 quantity of herbal powders mixed together)
Ghee (1 tbsp)
Dry roast the carom seeds on medium heat, until you get a nice aroma of roasted carom seeds. Switch off the flame. Dry grind the seeds. Keep the powder aside.
You may do the same for the other spices as well i.e. dry roast and grind, or, if you are short on time, simply use the powders. Obviously, aroma and efficacy wise, roasting and grinding the whole spices will be better, but the powder method also works well enough, especially if you are in a time crunch!
Now mix all the dry powders in the proportions mentioned above.
Take the jaggery and palm candy (can replace with just jaggery) and cover it with enough water, such that the jaggery and sugar crystals are soaked.
Turn on the heat on medium and wait till the jaggery and palm candy crystals melt completely.
Mix well and then add ghee.
Continue cooking on a medium flame, till the mixture attains a syrupy consistency. If you cook it a little more and wait till it dries up a tad more, you can get a version that can be rolled into balls. Either way should be fine.
