SHEER CHAI

What is the taste of a slow, slumberous afternoon in Srinagar? It’s that of a specially brewed sheer chai or noon chai (noon stands for salt in Kashmiri). This is a unique tea: it’s salty, it’s pink in colour and it is an acquired taste. What brings this all together is the rather unusual ingredient for a tea: soda bicarbonate or baking soda, which lends the tea both its pinkish hue and saltiness. Making this tea is a little bit of an art form and one that is considered a litmus test for any new Kashmiri Pandit bride. A post meal or early evening chai, give this one a go when we are feeling particularly experimental or if you’ve fallen for it!
Recipe
  • Pour water in a pot :1/2 cup
  • Crush kashmiri kehwa leaves & a less than half teaspoon baking soda in the pot
  • Grind & put 2 small cardamoms (Ilaayachee) in the water
  • Boil it in low flame till 3/4th of the water evaporates
  • In the remaining 1/4th water, pour another 1/2  cup of water in the pot
  • Salt (Namak): to taste
  • Boil this water till 1/2 the liquid evaporates
  • Now slowly the water color will also start to change
  • Pour Water to the remaining 1/2 cup in the water: 21/2 cups
  • After the water boils, pour Milk: 1 1/2 cups
  • Boil the liquid nicely
  • Meanwhile, put crushed almonds (Badam) in the cups
  • Pour the pink color tea into the cups
  • Garnish it with 1 spoon malai on chai & some crushed almonds (Badam)
Ingredients
  • Kehwa leaves or Sheer Chai leaves (pahadi chai)
  • Baking soda
  • Salt (Namak)
  • Water
  • Milk (Doodh)
  • Crushed almonds (Badam)
  • Cardamom powder (Elaichi)
  • Malai

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