Tamil: மல்லி தண்ணீர் or malli thanni
English:  coriander water

This is one of those magic potions that our parents give us when we have a cold.  Last weekend when அம்மா (amma) caught wind of a slight sniffle – it took her less than 3 minutes after I walked through the door – to rush to the kitchen to make this. Thanks அம்மா.

INGREDIENTS (3 cups)

• 1 cup coriander seeds
• 10 black pepper corns
• 4 pieces of 1 inch thick ginger
• 5 cups water
• sugar – as much as you need – i like mine very sweet. I am not sure you can drink this if its not sweet!

1. In a heavy pan dry roast the coriander seeds, pepper corn and ginger for about 5 minutes. Remove when you start getting an aroma. Don’t let the peppercorns or coriander seeds burn.
2.  Move to a saucepan and add 5 cups of water and bring to boil.
3. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer till the mixture is down to 3 cups (you are going to have a take guess).
4. Drain the liquid into cups, add sugar and serve.

   Notes: You can use the mix one more time to make another batch. I don’t have a heavy pan and do everything in a saucepan. Using heavy pan is recommended in Nesa aunty’s ‘A Jaffna Tamil Cookbook’ pg 272.

   Healing properties of
   • Coriander or Cilantro: anti-inflamatory, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and protein
   • Ginger: many including anti-inflamatory
   • Peppercorns: immune system boosting and anti-inflamatory