Barley water recipe, Learn how to make barley water at home. An healthy and nutritious drink to beat the heat. Most people know that barley water helps to prevent formation of kidney stones, water retention in pregnant women and treats urinary tract infections. But it certainly has many more benefits like clearing toxins from stomach, helps to reduce cholesterol and keeps the skin clear. Above all it keeps the body cool and hydrated during summer.
It is considered to be one of the best summer drinks keeping the body hydrated and cool. This water can also be fed to babies above 8 months old. Please consult your pediatrician before you start giving this to your baby.
Generally barley water is served with rock sugar and lemon juice to beat the summer heat.
Barley is a grain that is low in calories and high in fiber along with many other minerals and nutrients. Regular consumption of barley helps in detoxifying the body naturally and assists in weight loss. It also keeps the intestinal tract clear and promotes healthy digestive system.
Barley like any other grain has to soaked well prior to cooking in order to reduce the phytic acid. Soaking helps to reduce the phytic acid which otherwise hinders the absorption of nutrients by the body.
There are 4 or more kinds of barley available in the market.
1. Hulled barley is the best one for consumption. The outer skin has been removed but they still have the bran. These take longer to soak, cook and digest.
2. Quick cook barley are precooked and dehydrated. These are the instant version which is not good to use.
3. Pearl barley is a refined version of the whole grain. But they are widely available in the market.
4. Pot barley is a less refined version of the pearl variety.
5. Barley grits are like broken wheat or semolina.
6. Unhulled barley is the one with the husk and cannot be used without hulling them.
For more summer beverages, you can check
Fruit juice recipes
Sabja seeds drink (tukumaria seeds)
Aloe vera juice
Dry dates juice
Barley water recipe below
Barley water
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- ¼ cup Barley pot barley or hulled barley or pearl barley
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon rock sugar or pink salt as needed (optional)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice or as needed
How to make the recipe
- Wash barley a few times with lot of water. Then soak them for at least for 6 to 8 hours. Soaking the grains not only reduces the cook time but also avoids flatulence or abdominal gas.
- After 6 to 8 hours drain the water completely. Pour 3 cups of fresh water to a pot or cooker.
- Pressure cooker: Pressure cook till soft for at least 7 to 8 whistles on a medium flame. Pot method: you can also make barley water in an open pot with additional 1 cup of water till the barley turns very soft and about to get mushy. Instant pot : Add the soaked barley to the inner pot along with water and press the porridge mode which is preset to 20 mins.
- If using hulled barley, it takes more than an hour to cook in the pot. Just keep adding more water as needed while you boil it.
- Cool barley water completely. Strain and add rock sugar, lemon juice and relish. You can also eat up the barley along with the water or add it to salads. It can also be added to yogurt and mixed. Then topped with pomegranate arils.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Notes
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips.
How to make barley water recipe
1. Clean the barley and discard any debris.
2. Soak barley for at least 8 hours.
3. Pressure cook for about 8 whistles or till very soft cooked. You could use a slow cooker as well.Cool it completely.
4. Strain and add your favorite flavorings like lemon juice or fruit juice or a sweetener. You can also consume the grains along with water.
Dr.(Prof.) V.C.A. NAIR says
Really excellent and clear explanation of preparing Barley Water
Vinamratha says
Hi,
I’ve Barely flour. Can I boil it with water and then drink? Or do I need to soak it?
swasthi says
Hi,
You can use it without soaking. Barley can cause bloating so it is good to soak and use. Not sure if you can soak the flour.
Kavitha says
Hi Swasthi,
My mom follows a completely different procedure.
Dry roasts the barley seeds, powders them and using the powder prepares barley water which gets completed within 10mins.
Is this procedure an effective one?
swasthi says
Dear Kavitha,
It is always good to soak the grain and then cook. This helps to reduce the phytates or phytic acid in the grains. These phytates hinder the absorption of nutrients by our body. These days most population have some or the other nutritional deficiencies in the body. Sooner or later most of us are victims to this. Having grains without soaking them properly worsens these problems. Actually soaking them for at least 8 hours is best.
The nutrition value of barley made in the above method is higher. I will update the post in detail. If you have the powder ready, then you can soak it well and prepare the water. Hope this helps.
Rajesh Kumar Singh says
How does we use soft barely
swasthi says
I guess you can use them the same way. The cooking time should be less
Jhansi Guraja says
Thanks for the reply swasthi.
Jhansi Guraja says
Hi swasthi, can we have this drink in winter season.i am having this drink since two months but now in Us it’s getting cold. What time is the best to consume this drink in a day.
swasthi says
Hi Jhansi
You can have it warm or hot during winters preferably before 3 to 4 in the evening.
Judy says
Can I have ingredients for dry roasted barley for making powder? Can I use Quaker oats of quick pearled Berkeley?and how much Barkley water should I drink I only made like 1/4 of a cup
swasthi says
Hi Judy,
to make the barley powder, first add them to a pen and keep roasting them on a medium flame until they turn slightly golden in color. Cook and make a powder. Cook 1 tbsp of this will 2 cups water. Cool this and drink. I am not sure if this method is as effective as the one I shared in the recipe card.Hope this helps.
Ravinder says
Hi swathi….
Can I prepare barley water say in morning n consume anytime during the day or should it be consumed immediately or within some stipulated time period?
Kindly reply.
swasthi says
Hi Ravinder,
You can soak them in the night, cook it early morning, cool it and finish it in the next 12 hours. Make sure you keep this in a cool place.
Megha says
Hi swasti
Good and easy recipe of barley water. But pls help ne out in hindi it is called jau and how to store thia water so no need to cook everyday
swasthi says
Hi Megha
Yes barley is jau in hindi. It is good if you can make it fresh everyday for the best health benefits. But if you cannot just cook and keep them in the refregerator and consume within next 48 hours.
May be you can also try this way
1. Soak barley good enough for 4 to 5 days and refregerate. Everyday take some from the fridge and cook in the morning or the previous night. It will cool down by breakfast time and you can have it.
2. You can put in a electric cooker and switch on in the night with a timer. By next morning it will be ready.
Hope these help.
Shruthiprasad says
Can we make fine powder and prepare barley water?
swasthi says
yes shruti you can
Abhay healthlogus says
Is it hard on digestion
swasthi says
no
Aiman saluji says
Good information about barely.I drink water and eat soft barely which soaked in water for 4 hours ir overnight.
swasthi says
You will have to cook barley as mentioned in the post and then drink water. You can also eat the cooked barley. It should not be consumed raw, may cause stomach upset
Divya says
is barley water will reduce weight loss.suggest me .im suffering lot of my upper abdomn tammy and hands
Chinmoy Mitra says
Hi,
It is a good way to prepare barley water. But I was just thinking, isn’t just drinking the water and throwing away all the barley a wastage of a lot of stuff? Can we also eat the left over barley?
Thanks
swasthi says
Hi Chinmoy,
Yes it can be eaten as well. If eaten regularly one may end up bloated. but drinking only the water daily will instead keep the stomach and the intestine clear without getting bloated. The benefits of eating barley and drinking barley water are totally different. Barley water can keep us hydrated, make the skin look good, keeps the body cool, helps to prevent and deal with kidney stones and infections.
Althaf Ali says
Should we need to discard left over barley after preparing Barley water as I am using left over barley combined with organic oats n fresh milk to make a porridge. and sweeten with honey/organic Maple syrup. Pls advice
swasthi says
Actually after boiling them for long time they become tasteless. However they still have fiber contents so they can be used up to make salad or porridge as you mentioned
Anna says
I just found your barley water recipe, and am a bit confused regarding the actual cooking time. I’m using an Instant Pot, so there are no whistles. Could you please give me an approximate time it will take for the (soaked) barley to be done? (Normal cooking time – if you wanted to eat the barley – would be 20 minutes.)
Thanks!
swasthi says
Hi Anna,
I suppose 40 mins should work. When you squeeze the cooked barley in between your thumb and fore finger, the starchy part should come out to your finger, means it is cooked very mushy. You can also mash up the cooked barley with a masher and then strain. Hope this helps.
Raghavendra Bhat says
Thanks for the information
nagesh says
what if we do not add sugar or lemon juice?
swasthi says
It is very healthy to have without sugar, so you can skip it. Lemon juice is refreshing, if you don’t have you can still have it plain.