Tamarind refreshing Summer drink

This non-alcoholic drink is guaranteed to impress your guests on a hot day! It is also a medicinal drink.

Tamarind, native to tropical America is widely used in Asia in sweet and savory dishes. My fascination with exotic food is also for medicinal reasons. Tamarind is said to cool the body and cleanse the blood. The pulp is rich in vitamins and minerals, in particular calcium. In Chinese medicine the bark treats asthma and leaves or the seeds are used to treat boils, the flowers to reduce blood pressure. I can see great implications of this drink for people who overheat ( hot flushes for instance), with constipation various skin conditions, and chronic sinusitis due to poor digestion. Throughout Southeast Asia, the fruit of the tamarind is used as a poultice applied to the foreheads of fever sufferers. A 2002 diet control study where subjects were fed tamarind paste, concluded that: “tamarind intake is likely to help in delaying progression of skeletal fluorosis by enhancing urinary excretion of fluoride”. Based on a 2012 human study, supplementation of tender tamarind leaves improved disturbances to carbohydrate, lipid, and antioxidant metabolism caused by chronic fluoride intake. However, additional research is needed to confirm these results.

In the recipe below I have used tamarind syrup, but dry tamarind pulp can be used as well. Please make sure you get an unsalted tamarind.

50-100ml of tamarind syrup or 125 g of tamarind pulp
500ml rose water or water
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon cummin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
iced water
crushed ice
mint springs
lime slices
1 tablespoon of sugar if using pulp

Serve cold and enjoy it!

If you would like to know more about how the DH-Natural Medicine Clinic can help you, please call us now on

(02) 4854 0205 

Danuta Hulajko is a Naturopath, international speaker and the founder & practitioner at the DH Natural Medicine Clinic and www.healingremedies.com.au in the Southern Highlands 

Danuta specialises in Allergies, Anti-Aging, Auto-Immune Conditions, Cardiovascular Conditions, Female Reproductive, Long Covid, Menopause, Mould Toxicity, Skin Conditions, Stress and Insomnia and Thyroid Dysfunction.