Life. Love. Food

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.

I made a dope vid to accompany the blog post. Do watch below, and subscribe!

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!

Don’t forget to watch and like the complimentary Youtube video to this recipe and a HUGE THANK YOU for subscribing; we are now at 50K subbies!!!

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

Cheers!


Get your downloadable recipe here :))

download best african recipes_ Kaluhiskitchen.com recipes_kenyan food recipes


All content and images are copyright protected by
DMCA.com Protection Status
Do not copy in part or whole without giving due credit.



29 Comments

  1. Viner

    Definitely trying out this recipe. Will come back with a feedback. Thanks for the amazing recipes.

    • Kaluhi

      Looking forward to your feedback!

  2. Renia

    So happy to have found this delicious recipe for Dawa. It’s great to have as we move into flu season.

  3. Shani

    I made some of this today to help keep my immune system up! Such a tasty tea.

    • Kaluhi

      Let’s keep our immunity uppppp!

  4. Crystal

    Thanks for sharing this lovely immune booster! I’m going to try it as soon as I get some ginger! I love all of the process shots as well as the photos of the Dawa itself! Great job, the whole recipe came out very nicely!

    • Kaluhi

      Thank you so much! Hope you love each sip!

  5. Chef Mireille

    I love this spiced lemonade. It is delicious and with all the medicinal qualities of the spices. Definitely what I need for immunity against the upcoming flu season. Thanks for this healthy and delicious tonic.

  6. Andrea

    Loved the ginger and lemon flavor in this recipe, so healthy and delicious.

  7. Wilson Ekiru

    I have been doing it all differently without cinnamon and cloves. I will be doing your way from today henceforth.😆 This looks easy and nice. Thanks.

  8. DesirÃĐe

    This recipe was delicious. I’ll definitely be making this more as the weather cools!

  9. Adelaise

    What a delicious and refreshing beverage. I love the inclusion of ginger too!

    • Kaluhi

      Ginger really does make this come to life!

  10. ChenÃĐe

    This was so soothing — perfect for relaxing after a long day!

  11. Samantha

    This tea is so comforting and relaxing!

    • Kaluhi

      Very! Very!

  12. Mila

    This was such a refreshing tea! I love drinking it before bed. It’s super soothing.

  13. Tamara

    This is the perfect recipe for a winter tea. It is absolutely delicious. From the spices, to the honey, it’s a must have recipe!

  14. Katrina

    This dawa tea is right on time for building a better immune system! Thank you for sharing!! Congratulations on your YouTube milestone!! 🎉

  15. Marta

    My little girl was complaining of a sore throat. With everything going on, I started worrying, but after she drank a mug of dawa she said her throat wasn’t bothering her as much. I’ll keep having her drink the dawa. Thank you so much!

  16. Jazz

    Love the simplicity of this recipe–so comforting!

  17. nisaac01

    I read this hoping for a foolproof way to make my favorite cocktail.. ha ha the tea is nice too

    • Kaluhi

      No way one can fail to love this lol! <3

  18. Sarafina

    I know a different way of making Dawa so it will definitely be fun trying this new way thanks to you!

    • Kaluhi

      Hope you love my method as much as you enjoyed yours!

  19. Dai Software

    I completely agree, It is great. And I am always surprised when I read posts about the food. This great content. I have learned something powerful today. on demand delivery app development

    • Kaluhi

      xx

  20. Tuyizere Lambert

    Thanks for sharing this Dawa tea recipe it is so delicious and full of cinamon flavor

    • Kaluhi

      Glad you enjoyed it!

Leave a Reply to Mila Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 Kaluhi's Kitchen

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑