Dawa

A few things come close to how soothing a hot glass of dawa on a cold day is! Dawa means ‘Medicine’ in kiswahili. There are two variations of the dawa drink: the cocktail and the tea. Today we are making the tea. Dawa is commonly taken when one wants to soothe a sore throat, ease a cold and for most, just to warm themselves up and inject their body with a bucket load of vitamins. You don’t have to wait till you have a flu to enjoy this, you can just enjoy it anyday, anytime honey! Now that we are in August, the days are a lot milder, though the temparatures are still generally low (low by Kenyan standards at least lol) and the nights are cold and crisp. A perfect glassful of dawa would be perfect to warm you up not only this month but really any time of the year that you want something delicious, nutritious, warming and soothing. There are countless ways of making dawa, and today’s recipe is my take.

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PREP TIME: 10 min    COOK TIME:  10 min       SERVES: 1

Ingredients

1 cup of water

1 cinnamon stick

5 individual clove seeds

2 lemons

1 heaped tablespoon of minced ginger

1 tablespoon of honey

Method

Typically, dawa is prepared using just plain water as the core carrier of all the other ingredients. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it also wouldn’t hurt if we added some flavor. For that, I always start with cold water, add some whole clove (karafuu) and cinnamon sticks and bring it to a boil. Clove is not only warming but it is also an excellent maintainer of gut health and cinnamon is excellent in regulating blood sugar. They are amazing for your body and add flavor so it is a win-win!

You can opt for clove/cinnamon spice, however I find the whole spices a lot better for my dawa. You can find both in any well stocked supermarket across the country.

As your water simmers, it will get a mild brown hue, and that is because of our clove and the cinnamon stick.

The simmering will take a few minutes, and the time will vary according to the quantity of your water. As that is going, you should have already prepped and juiced your lemon or prep it at this moment. Any variety of lemon will work for this. The variety that is most common in my country – bush lemons – is what I went for. Bush lemons have a very very thick rough rind, very strong tart concentrated flavor, green aroma and not as juicy relative to lisbon lemons. For my single cup of dawa, I juiced two large lemons.

Once the water has come to a boil, add the freshly squeezed lemon juice, freshly minced ginger and your raw honey. Now, there is an alternative method of making dawa that involves boiling the lemons for up to 6000 millenia until all the life is drained out of them  long periods of time. I have tried both methods. This one I am detailing today is a lot better because it is not only faster but most importantly, it preserves the flavor and nutritional integrity of the lemon and ginger. The taste is even fuller and mellower. Try both methods and you shall see the difference. And I highly recommend you stick to this.

The raw honey I used is by Bee Happy. Their raw honey is beautiful and the one everyone at home is hooked on too! Contact them on 0700453377. In my video I also spoke on how you can use their fusion blends {honey + cinnamon} honey and their {honey + ginger} honey so pass by and watch from

Add the honey soon after the lemon and ginger are in, mix in the honey until dissolved and once dissolved give it a minute or two more on the heat and we are done!

Loaded with vitamin c, antioxidants, cancer- fighting properties and so much more, each mug of Dawa will not only do your body good, keep you healthy but it is the perfect partner to cosy up to on a cold night. Soothing, delicious and easy to make and therefore, we stan!

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Can’t wait for you all to try this out!

Cheers!

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