Lemongrass tea

A soothing and refreshing tea which I made up when I was grounded at home with a cold. Lemongrass is said to help treat fever and lemon is good for cokds with its vitamin C and mint is good for the gut.

Some Ayurveda jargon - colds are usually an imbalance of vata and kapha and mint increases pitta while reducing vata levels.

So for a mug-full of tea:

1 and 1/2 to 2 tsp lemongrass cut into small pieces
2-3 leaves of mint
A few drops of lemon

Take a little more quantity of water than you would like tea as the water will be boiled about 10 minutes.

Bring the water to a boil, add lemongrass and simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Add the mint leaves and let simmer for another 3-5 minutes.

The tea should have a greenish tinge and smell of the herbs added.

Strain and let cool a few minutes or until you can't wait any more. Add the lemon drops.

If you want a medicine for cold add a teaspoonful of freshly grated ginger and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder with the lemongrass. Ginger powder can be used instead of fresh ginger. The ginger and cinnamon recipe is courtesy Dr. Vasant Lad's book "the complete book of Ayurveda home remedies".