Kashmiri Chai

“Chase your passion, not your pension.” – Denis Waitley

How to make Kashmiri Chai

THREE YEARS! It’s been three years since I entered the blogosphere and it’s been such a wonderful journey so far. What started out as a place for me to document my kitchen concoctions has become a place for me to share, gush and grow. I am so thankful I took the leap and started writing, because of it I have been able to share my passion and meet some wonderful people along the way. Your encouragement and feedback has been inspirational. As always, I appreciate your comments as there is no better feeling than when someone says they’ve tried and loved one of your recipes! I look forward to continuing to share our journey & recipes. Again – THANK YOU!

How to make Kashmiri ChaiHow to make Kashmiri Chai

By now you all have come to know about my profound love of chai. Today I’m sharing a special chai recipe which took me several attempts to perfect.

How to make Kashmiri ChaiHow to make Kashmiri Chai
Kashmiri Chai is a traditional milky tea from the region of Kashmir. Unlike most teas, this tea is made with the addition of sea salt, giving it a savory punch. The chai itself has a pinkish hue to it, which is attained by the addition of baking soda and by ‘pheatoning’ (beating it by pouring it from one pot to another) vigorously. Kashmiri Chai is also known as Pink Tea, Sheer Chai and Noon Tea. The word “Noon” was derived from the Punjabi word “loon” which means salt. It’s a staple tea in Kashmir and quite popular in Pakistan and parts of Northern India.

How to make Kashmiri Chai
I was infatuated with this romantically pink tea and determined to figure out how to make it – the authentic way! After several attempts I’ve finally figured out a recipe that looks just as good as it tastes.

How to make Kashmiri Chai

How to make Kashmiri Chai, a traditional milky tea from the region of Kashmir. This tea is made with the addition of sea salt, giving it a savory punch.

Kashmiri Chai
 
Cook time
Total time
 
How to make Kashmiri Chai, a traditional milky tea from the region of Kashmir. This tea is made with the addition of sea salt, giving it a savory punch.
Author:
Recipe type: Drinks
Serves: 4-5 cups
Ingredients
  • 3 cups water
  • 3 cups ice cold water
  • 2 cup whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons Kashmiri Chai or Pure Green Tea
  • 5-6 Green Cardamom Pods
  • 1 whole Cinnamon Stick
  • 1 Star Anise
  • ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
  • ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 3 tablespoons Sugar (you can adjust this to taste)
Garnish
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
  • 1 tablespoon crushed pistachio and almonds (about 5-6 nuts each)
Method
  1. In a medium size saucepan over high heat, add three cups water, tea leaves, salt, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon stick and star anise. Bring the tea to a boil, educe heat to medium and let the tea evaporate until there is about 1 cup left -- this will take about 10-15 minutes.
  2. Add the three cups of ice cold water and "phento". Phento in Hindi means to whisk/beat vigorously. In this case the best way to phento this tea is to continuously pour it from one saucepan/pot to another or pull the tea by using a ladle, and pouring it in and out of the ladle. Do this at least 12-15 times. You will immediately start noticing the tea becoming more and more pink.
  3. Once this is done, strain and pour concoction into a heat proof jar.
  4. In the same saucepan add the milk, and one cup of the strained tea concoction. Add sugar and bring the tea to a simmer before serving.
  5. Serve the hot Kashmiri Chai in your favorite tea cups and garnish with crushed almonds and pistachios.
Notes
Refrigerate the concoction you don't use for up to a week. When ready to use warm 2 cups of milk for every 1 cup of tea concoction.

      

Enjoy!

13 thoughts on “Kashmiri Chai

  1. I’ve never had Kashmiri chai but it looks wonderful. My parents are from India and growing up my mom and dad made the best chai but we just called it tea 🙂 . I always want some on cold afternoons.

    Nice to meet you on the Mommy Blogger Group! I’ll be following you on social media and look forward to your other Indian cooking posts. I don’t cook much Indian food yet but would love to learn (my mom was the best cook and spoiled me rotten, so I didn’t really learn to cook until I got married). I’m going to follow you on social media and my WP blog reader.

    I hope you will stop by and add up to 3 family-friendly links in my Small Victories Sunday linky that’s now open!
    http://momssmallvictories.com/small-victories-sunday-7-one-make-comeback/

  2. Hello Nisha

    Priya here, am a lurker on your website and always come back for your receipe ” Kashmiri Rajma” .. It turns out the way I want everytime.
    Husband and I are pretty much try out various varieties of tea and we tried this version over the weekend but used another tea powder ( we just relocated to PA very recently so trying to find a decent Indian grocery store around). The whole process and the end result was amazing.. we loved it.

    1. Hi Priya! I’m so glad you and your husband enjoy the Kashmiri Rajma – it’s one of my favorites as well! That’s great that the tea tastes good using your tea powder, hopefully you find a good Indian grocery store soon – I know how frustrating it can be to try and source the supplies at regular supermarkets!

  3. I enjoyed the Holiday Funfetti Cupcakes, but I also like the Indian Recipes. We have a lot of Indian grocery grocery stores around this area so I have no problem finding the ingredients!

  4. You know the Sharma family favorite is the tandoori lamb chop recipe we cant wait till the summer… Also my first baking venture which you encouraged me do was the cardamom cake and that is still our favorite on a rainy day 🙂

  5. Hi Nisha! Thank you so much for this piece – I usually go straight to the recipe but I really enjoyed your lovely photos and insights about this magical drink.

    Do you have recommendations on the next best thing if, like me, you simply can’t find Kashmiri tea leaves in your local market? I’ve even checked on Amazon and they don’t seem to carry anything authentic. I’ve used roasted green tea, which had a nice (though perhaps inaccurate) result, and I’ve also heard that gunpowder tea works.

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