How To Make Kashmiri Chai – Pink Tea: Step By Step Tutorial

Recently, I’ve been blessed to find out about a long lost relative of ours. Some of them share blood with Yemenis, while other’s share blood with Pakistanis from the land of Kashmir. This is all while being mixed with Somali. It just so seems to me that Somalis and Pakistanis are like magnets to each other. Infact, I have numerous relatives who have married into pakistani families.

I stumbled across a picture of this traditional Kashmiri tea on Instagram by a friend @kitchen_diaries_by__Zubda. Her take on this tea was so pretty and it had inspired me to research and make it with my own touch.

This tea is pink in colour and has a distinguished and aromatic taste to it, very different from the typical teas we usually have. It is made with green tea leaves, milk, salt and Bicarbonate Soda. The Bicarbonate Soda combined with the Green tea causes a reaction that turns the tea into a ‘tomatoish’ brown colour. Then, when you add the milk to it, you get a nice pink colour.

I usually receive many guests,  I have made this recipe on a large scale so that I can refrigerate and use whenever I need it. This allows me to quickly serve the tea  without having to start the long time consuming process of achieving the natural reddish tomatoish brown colour everytime. This recipe is perfect as you will be able to freeze or refrigerate the reddish tea syrup and use as often and as little and as much as you desire

Here is my own easy recipe, it looks long but I promise it’s super simple.

Let’s begin by first making the ‘tomatoish’ brown colour (deep red).

Boil in a large pot 500ml -1 litre of water. Add to the water, 6 large cinnamon sticks broken in halves. Add 10 cardamon pods crushed, and add in 4 tbsp of loose green tea leaves. Add in 1 tsp of Salt. Mix everything very well together until frothy.

Using a ladle (a large long-handled hollow spoon usually used for serving soup), spoon the tea up and down and in and out of the pot, as a way to aerate the tea. Do this step as often as possible during the whole process of making this tea. The addition of air is what gives this tea its reddish brown colour and I know what your thinking and yes it’s a pretty intense arm workout! But the results sure pay off.

Lower the heat to the lowest level after the tea leaves have boiled, brewed and the water has reduced. Add in 1 tbsp of Bicarbonate soda and whisk vigorously for about 10 seconds. Be careful, we are lowering the gas as the mixture will froth up and pour out of the pot if the heat is too high.
Now on medium low heat, continue to allow the tea leaves to brew for 45 minutes to an hour. Do this until you notice the tea has turned into a very dark reddish colour

Once you are happy with the colour, drain the mixture using a fine sieve colander until there are no bits. It is now ready for the next step. You can refrigerate or freeze in small batches. On days when using the tea, you can defrost your preferred amount as required.
Making the actual tea and achieving the pink colour.

Once you are happy with the colour, drain the mixture using a fine sieve colander until there are no bits. It is now ready for the next step. You can refrigerate or freeze in small batches. On days when using the tea, you can defrost your preferred amount as required.

Making the actual tea and achieving the pink colour.

In a separate pot on medium high heat add milk according to the amount of  people you are making the tea for, eg, if you are making it for one person you will need one full cup of milk. If you are making for 4 people, you will need 4 full cups of milk. Add sugar into the milk according to your desired sweetness of tea.

Slowly start adding a few tablespoons of the reddish tea mixture that we had made previously and whisk the milk vigorously to achieve a slight froth. The colour of the tea should now be a lovely dark pink.
Adjust the milk to the colour of your choice.
Pour into cups and serve the pink Kashmiri chai.
You will not be able to taste the salt or the bicarbonate Soda but rather you will taste an aromatic sweet distinct flavour. I call this Pink Tea a comforting hug in a cup.

The Result…Delicious Kashmiri Chai – Pink Tea

If you do make this tea using my recipe, I would love to hear your feedback below and how it turned out for you! Please tag @hooyos_house_ on Instagram or share using the hashtag #hooyos_house.

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