The most important medicinal benefits of TRIKATU PASTILLES

TRIKATU PASTILLES

    Don’t be intimidated by the name; pastille is basically a fancy French term for pills, while trikatu is the name of a famous Ayurvedic herbal formula that is a simple combination of three pungent herbs: black pepper, ginger, and long pepper. (Long pepper, Piper longum, is a close relative of the peppercorn.) It is perfect for people with signs of cold or stagnant digestion (such as bloating and gas), or for people with excess mucus. Trikatu can be found in many health food stores, but making your own ensures that it is fresh and potent. Plus, it’s really easy!

One of these pastilles can be taken with each meal. If you make them small enough, they can be swallowed whole; if you like things really spicy, you can chew them. You can easily adjust the quantity by remembering that this recipe uses equal parts of each herb (by volume, not weight). The measurements here will give you a small batch of pastilles. To make a large batch, try ¼ cup of each herb and increase the amount of honey too.

Yield: 3 tablespoons
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon long pepper powder
1 tablespoon honey
½ tablespoon licorice powder or orange peel powder* for coating the pastilles (optional)

1. Mix together the black pepper, ginger, and long pepper.

2. Very slowly drizzle a small amount of liquid honey, about a teaspoon, over the herbs. (If your honey has crystallized, warm it slightly by placing the jar in a pan of hot water to get it to a completely liquid consistency.) Stir.

3. Continue adding honey 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring in between, until the powdered herbs become a thick, mold-able paste. Don’t add too much honey or you won’t be able to form it into balls. If this happens, add more herbs until you get a pastelike consistency.

4. To make each pastille, take a pea-size amount of paste and roll it gently between your fingertips until it forms a small ball. Roll the pastilles in the licorice or orange peel powder to coat them, if desired. The powder is an optional ingredient, but it does help keep the pastilles from sticking together.

5. Store your pastilles in an airtight container. They should last indefinitely, but for best results use them within six months.

* Orange peel powder is simply orange peel that has been dried and powdered. It is different from store-bought “dried orange peel,” which comes in small, uniform chunks. If you make your own, place the dried peels in a spice grinder or food processor and process until it is a fine powder.