Cure-y for coughs and colds

Most traditional cultures across the globe have a stew recipe that has been handed down through the generations. When food was scarce and dependent on what was available at the time, putting everything your tribe could gather into a big pot along with water and (if you were lucky) some salt, oil, herbs and spices was the best way to ensure all the hungry mouths were fed. Over time, these recipes were refined, and each family had their own take on the original native stew.

From the famous French coq au vin, to the Palaver sauce of West Africa, the Locro of South America, the Budae-Jjigae of South Korea and the Assam-Pedas of Indonesia and Malaysia, these dishes tell a story about local knowledge and connection with the changing seasons, rainfall and migration patterns. The recipes are tailored to their local environments, and are cooked in a way that optimises our ability to extract every last ounce of nutrition from them. When we learn about another culture, we connect with our innate humanity and the wisdom that weaves us together.

Moreover, when dishes are cooked in one pot, we need not worry about supplementing with Vitamin D to ensure we can absorb calcium, adding potassium to balance sodium, topping up vitamin B12 to absorb folate, and using zinc to balance copper. Unless you plan to turn your kitchen into a chemistry lab and measure the composition of each ingredient, using traditional stew recipes with some clever tweaks is the simplest way to maximise the availability of nutrition, especially if your digestion has been dampened by a cough and cold.

I respectfully adapted this recipe from my mum and the many generations of grandmothers who came before her. This nutritious stew is called Rassam, native to Kerala, India. It is just one example of how we transform a curry into my newly coined term, a cure-y (pronounced like Marie Curie, one of my favourite female scientists):

Cough and Cold Cure-y (serves 4)

Ingredients

• 2 chopped tomatoes

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (coriander/ mint leaves)

• 3 cups water

• 1 tsp coriander seeds/ powder

• 1 tsp cumin seeds/ powder

• 1 tsp black pepper pods/ powder

• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

• 1 tsp salt (to taste)

• 2 tbsp ghee

• 1/2 tsp spring onion/ shallots

• 1 tsp grated ginger

• A pinch of asafoetida

• 5-10 curry leaves

• 1 tbsp lemon/ lime juice

Method

Roughly grind or pound all seeds/ pods/ powders together with spring onions/ shallots, salt and ginger.

Put a deep pan on a medium flame, and add all pounded ingredients.

Add tomatoes, fresh herbs, water until the tomatoes are softened and well cooked, then allow the mixture to simmer for five minutes.

In a small saucepan on medium heat, add ghee, followed by curry leaves, asafoetida and a pinch of salt, then pour into the stew.

Switch off the flame and add lemon or lime juice. Garnish with fresh herbs, and enjoy with wholegrains such as rice, flatbread, pasta, bulgur wheat, etc.

*Option to add some cooked beans or lentils while the stew is simmering.

We often reach for medication like pain relief and decongestants out of habit and fear, but these drugs only mask the symptoms. More often than not, using medication causes us to take more time to recover because we silence what our bodies were trying to tell us all this while; slow down, I’m tired. Many drugs come with their own complications, including weakening the digestive system. For example, decongestants may clear your sinuses, but they also dry out the mucus membrane that protects your digestive tract. Paracetamol may provide some pain relief, but it is a toxin your liver has to process at a time when it is already weakened.

There is no silver bullet for illness (not even this delicious cure-y!). Once the realisation comes that you are unwell, the best you can do for your recovery is to take the downtime in your stride. Avoid checking emails, catching up on tv shows, spending hours on the phone or trying to exercise. Your body is already hard at work pumping everything it has into your immune system; being sick is a sign that everything is working as it should be. The less mental and emotional resistance we create internally, the more room there is to release physical and emotional toxins that have been built up in the body along with external factors like virus and bacteria.