New Delhi:
Introduced by the Brits yet loved by every breathing Indians, chai, is more than just Amul milk with tea leaves, it is a feeling that unites and brings people, also not to also forget the succulent tazza taste of chai. On Monday, Delhi NCR saw a dip in the temperature at a chilling 10.2 degrees C, which, officials say might worsen with mercury in Tuesday dipping as low as 7 degrees C.
We hence, thought it the best time to introduce Kashmiri pink chai to our table. While the origin of the tasty Pink chai is unknown, pink chai also called noon chai, is also is also served in parts of Afghanistan, where it is known as shor chai and Pakistan who call it sabz chai.
With the dipping temperature, no time can be more perfect to add this creamy, buttery and slightly thick consistency of a tea into our food resume.
Here is a recipe that makes two cups of noon chai:
Ingredients you will need for the pink chai.
4 cups water (2 cups cold water)
4 green cardamoms
2 to 3 tsp green tea leaves
A pinch of baking soda or saffron (to give the chai the pink colour)
2 cups milk
Salt and/or sugar (as per your choice)
Crushed nuts (almonds and pistachios preferably)
Steps for the Kashmiri pink chai:
-Pour two cups water in a deep pot and let it boil. As the water warms, crush green cardamoms and add it in the water. Now add a fair amount of green tea leaves then stir it for a while. Add the baking soda to get the famous pink hue.
-Once the solution turns reddish it colour, let the mixture simmer and boil for about 20 minutes until the water is reduced by half. Now add two cups cold water while the mixture is boiling and stir. After adding the water, let it simmer for five to 10 minutes. While it simmers, boil the milk in another pot while continuing to stir the mixture.
-Now pour in the reddish mixture to the milk then add salt or sugar or both. Keep boiling the tea till it comes to a consistency where it is thick. For the final process, pour the tea in cups then sprinkle the crushed nuts to enjoy the tea with the hot chai.
