“Kanji…The Chinese have a similar dish called Congee and the Japanese call their one Okayu. All seem to serve it during illness. I am sure we could find a variation of this dish all over the world.”

INGREDIENTS (serves 5)

• 1 medium sized red onion chopped into small pieces
• 1 bunch of coriander leaves
• 5 hot chillies (or as much as you want – the more the better for a runny nose)
• 1.5 cups milk or soy milk
• 1.25 cups red rice
• 1 lime squeezed into lime juice
• 1.5 tsp salt

1. Wash the red rice, add water and boil.
2. Grind the coriander with 1/2 cup water.
3. Add milk or soy milk to ground coriander mix and leave aside.
4. When the rice is cooked, add the salt, onion and the coriander mix and bring to boil (this should take less than 3 mins)
5. Remove from stove.
6. Add lime juice and serve hot.

“The English translation of this is ‘Coriander Water’. Kothamalli = Coriander. Thani = Water. It is one of those magic potions that Tamil parents give their children when they have a cold.”

INGREDIENTS (makes 3 cups)

• 1 cup of coriander seeds
• 10 whole pepper corns
• 4 pieces of 1 ginger 1 inch thick (like the photo)
• sugar – as much as you need

1. Roast the coriander, pepper and ginger for about 5 minutes on a fry pan. You will start to get a lovely nutty kind of aroma. (I am not really good with aromas – so if it’s not nutty to you – forgive me)

2. Add 5 cups of water and the roasted mixture to a saucepan and bring to boil.
3. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer till the mixture is down to 3 cups.
4. Drain the liquid into cups, add as much sugar as you need and serve.
5. You don’t have to drink it all at once. But I guess with anything it’s always best fresh.

Feature image and recipes sourced from My Tamil Kitchen.