Supercharged water

HERBS CAN TURN AN AVERAGE GLASS OF WATER INTO A FRAGRANT, HEALTHY BEVERAGE

- VIBHA VARSHNEY

WE ARE what we eat, and what we drink. One of the few places where you can find these simple tenets of Ayurveda put into practice, is Kerala—the land with a rich heritage of the traditional medicine. I had a first-hand experience of this during one of my reporting assignments to the coastal state. I was travelling across villages to cover a major outbreak of chikungunya. In the villages that I visited, I was greeted with a glass of pink water. The practice is so common that even restaurants serve the coloured water. I later learned that it comes loaded with antioxidants and is meant to ensure one’s wellness. Even Ayurvedic spas use it to aid in the process of detoxification.

Since most households in Kerala villages depend on well water, they traditionally consume it after boiling to ward off waterborne illnesses. Many a time what they do is throw a few herbs into the water and let it boil. They call it dahasamani or herb-infused water. Usually, it is consumed warm. Since one consumes two to three litres of water a day, dahasamani’s therapeutic effect is an added advantage.

But there is no standard recipe or name for it. People in Kerala choose from a variety of herbs and condiments like dry ginger, cardamom, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, basil vetiver and sandalwood to prepare the water. When cumin seeds are added, they call it jeeraka vella;