Kashmiri Chai کشمیری چاءے recipe by morEwish

 

Kashmiri Chai, noon chai or pink tea is milk tea with dusty pink hues and garnishes of crushed nuts. This rosy-hued variety is the luxurious, special-occasion drink of choice especially in winters for us Pakistanis.

Authentic noon (literally translated salt) chai is a salty tea as name suggests, but as it traveled to different regions, Karachi version is sweet with a hint of salt, what I grew up drinking. Its a seasonal treat as it often served at winter weddings.

Kashmiri tea leaves are very similar to green tea in that they are minimally oxidized, and I heard many people use regural green tea leaves if they can't find the Kashmiri tea. Because kashmiri tea leaves are hard to find - even for me and I have access to plenty of desi grocery stores.  

Making Kashmiri chai requires patience - The key is in the technique.The process starts with heating up water to a simmer, then adding the loose-leaf tea ani star seed, cardamoms and cinnamon with baking soda. Baking soda, neutralizes the acid in the tea leaves and transforms the otherwise pale green tea into a deep burgundy color.

Next take a large ladle and spoon the tea up and down, in and out of the pot, as another way to aerate the tea— keep on doing that in intervals. That addition of air is what gives the tea its pink color. It is always so mesmerizing watching the tea transform before our eyes.

Lastly, adding cold water to hot water shocks the tea leaves and further brings out the color.

This tea concentrate (kehwa) can be kept in refrigerator for upto a week or even frozen for months till you are ready for a cup of pink tea. 

Whenever you are ready to serve this, just boil  milk, add kehva (tea concentrate) , leave to steep for 2 -3 minutes, and then finish with some salt, sugar, and crushed pistachios, or just add sugar, omitting the salt entirely.

Why your tea is not pink?

If your tea doesn’t exactly turn out pink, you will still be able to enjoy a delicious flavor. Here are some reasons:

• Using the wrong type of tea 
• Using old tea leaves 
• The tea leaves are not the correct kind
• Not boiling long enough
• Not Aerating enough 
• Forgetting about ice cold water

Video in Urdu:

Video in English:

Ingredients: 

3 cups of water

3 teaspoon of Kashmiri tea leaves

5-6 cardamoms

A piece of cinamon stick

One star ani seed (badyan phool)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

Once 3/4 to 1 cup or kehwa remains add,

3 cups of ice water