I think my favorite thing about universities is the different people one has the opportunity to meet. And the great part about getting to know people is that they can provide you with new ideas and insights, and sometimes even new foods. My good friend Aggie (from China) introduced me to Chinese hotpot, one of my favorite things to eat. This is not a blog about hotpot, though, so I'll skip going into raptures about it. Sorry to have brought it up.
Actually, while we were in school, I learned a lot about culture rather than food from another friend, Sidra. She was Pakistani-American, and always willing to answer my questions about Islam (which she follows). I'm not going to pretend that I had very deep questions, but I feel like I learned a lot nonetheless. Now that we've gone our separate ways, we stay in touch via the internet, an I continue to learn from her. Again, I'm dangerously close to going off on a tangent; long story short (TOO LATE!), through Sidra I learned about Kashmiri Tea.
Kashmiri tea is a type of Chai. I imagine it originates in/near Kashmir. (Wikipedia backs me on this.) Surprisingly, it is pink in color, even though it's made from jasmine tea, a type of green tea. According to my friend, one MUST use jasmine tea, or it won't work. She's been very happy with the tea she gets at Teavana; I happened to have some Aggie had given me from China (I drink it very rarely, because I consider it the most precious of my teas). The trick, from what I've read elsewhere, is really that you need to shock the leaves with cold, and that's what makes the green go pink. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Kashmiri Tea
2 Tbsp jasmine tea
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda*
1 cinnamon stick
6 green cardamom
4 C milk
4 Tbsp sugar
Place tea, salt, baking soda (if using-- see notes) cinnamon stick, and cardamom in a pot with 4 C water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1 1/2 C cold water (let it sit with ice while you're finishing the simmer), and stir vigorously. This is the science magic! The cold water shocks the leaves, and this leads to the pink color the beverage takes on. Add the milk and sugar. Return to the pot, partially cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Be careful not to over-heat, or it will lose some of the unique pink tint. Strain into cups, and serve sprinkled with finely chopped almonds and pistachios.
*Baking soda was present in every recipe I found on the internet, including the one my friend initially shared. I'm not sure whether it helps with the color or not, but according to Sidra (and a resultant discussion in the comments of her post), it's entirely unnecessary, and does not belong. I honestly don't remember whether or not I added it. I think not.
Tasty! I found this to be a rich, well-balanced chai. I especially love the pinkish color; it's not a bubblegum pink, but it was pinker before I heated the tea again than you see in the photo. I liked the nuts on top, too, because it was like a little snack with my tea, somehow reminiscent of cookies being dunked.
I think this would have been best shared with friends; my husband doesn't care over-much for chai, so I drank it by myself over the course of a couple days. It's best fresh, of course. I reckon that's the point, isn't it. To share tea with friends?
Kashmiri Tea2 Tbsp jasmine tea
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda*
1 cinnamon stick
6 green cardamom
4 C milk
4 Tbsp sugar
Place tea, salt, baking soda (if using-- see notes) cinnamon stick, and cardamom in a pot with 4 C water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1 1/2 C cold water (let it sit with ice while you're finishing the simmer), and stir vigorously. This is the science magic! The cold water shocks the leaves, and this leads to the pink color the beverage takes on. Add the milk and sugar. Return to the pot, partially cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Be careful not to over-heat, or it will lose some of the unique pink tint. Strain into cups, and serve sprinkled with finely chopped almonds and pistachios.
*Baking soda was present in every recipe I found on the internet, including the one my friend initially shared. I'm not sure whether it helps with the color or not, but according to Sidra (and a resultant discussion in the comments of her post), it's entirely unnecessary, and does not belong. I honestly don't remember whether or not I added it. I think not.Tasty! I found this to be a rich, well-balanced chai. I especially love the pinkish color; it's not a bubblegum pink, but it was pinker before I heated the tea again than you see in the photo. I liked the nuts on top, too, because it was like a little snack with my tea, somehow reminiscent of cookies being dunked.
I think this would have been best shared with friends; my husband doesn't care over-much for chai, so I drank it by myself over the course of a couple days. It's best fresh, of course. I reckon that's the point, isn't it. To share tea with friends?
