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Monday, December 19, 2005

Comments

Melissa

Fascinating recipes - and a fascinating series. I'm loving every minute of it!

vanessa

Great post, Brett. And thank you for airing your bit about the meaning of "chai." I'm pretty sick of folks showing up to the yoga studio with starbucks chai. absolutely no character and tastes the same as Scope mouthwash.

I have a soft spot for really strong masala chai. Creamy, sweet, and salty. I particularly like when you exhale an hour or so after drinking it and you still can get a whiff of clove :) but green tea and cardamom? i think i could definitely handle that.

and your theory about taking in savory tea on a trek is right. no, i didn't trek in the himalayas (one day...) but we had the tibetan yak butter tea on a hike across the Uintah mountains. and yes, it really does sustain.

fun language lesson for the day:
hindu/urdu—chai
japanese—cha (as in genmai cha)
korean—cha (as in pori cha, barley tea)
chinese—tza or tsa

gotta go make a cuppa....

Jennifer

I'm a huge green tea fan, so I'm excited to try your chai recipe.

This series has been fabulous, Brett. More, more!

khan

hi, can some one plz tell me how to make green tea pink like kashmiri green tea but the color pink.

Asif

Being a kashmiri i had to explain to one of my friends how to make kahwa and kashmiri tea (noon chai). I typed it on the internet and your link came up.

I must admit you have nailed it! Its really heartening to see someone has a fondness to your cultural food, it makes one proud of their own ethnicity.

As for my friend I gave her the link to your page.

ameena

Thanks for the great discussion and recipes about chai. I, too, tire of the glib, affected use of the word chai in common use to anything with a hint of milk and/or spice.

Treat site. First time visitor.

chris french

hi! i found this link while searching for kashmiri green tea. i was in india january 06 (the month after you wrote this). we toured the "golden triangle" (delhi, agra, jaipur) for a couple of weeks after attending an indian wedding. while we were in Delhi, we visited Delhi Haat, a kind of country fair, that has a focus on one of the indian states every two weeks. while we were there, they just happened to be highlighting Kashmir, much to our delight! as a tea and fiber enthusiastic, i was in total bliss!

we purchased some kahva from a stall with two kashmiri gentlemen--all decked out in their traditional garb--who made the tea in a samovar. i have pictures if anyone wants me to send to them ([email protected]). for me, it would NOT be kahva without the saffron and other spices you mentioned--so having 2 of the spices "optional" makes it just cardamon tea. and, they used kashmiri honey for the sweetener. (you could buy kashmiri honey at another stall, and green tea elsewhere). they boiled the spices and almonds first, then added the tea. and, they put a number of slivered, boiled almonds in the bottom of the cup, so we had yummy pieces to chew on at the end of the drink.

it was delightful! i also purchased an incredibly beautiful 1/2 pashmina, 1/2 fine wool, hand embroidered shawl.

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So when someone says "chai tea" they're actually saying "tea tea"? That's kinda funny. My girlfriend always buys those things from Starbucks. I have had them before, but it feels like i'm drinking a big cup of pure sugar. Too sweet for me. I do like the iced green tea lattes though, still pretty sweet.

Really cool blog by the way, and as I do like to try new foods and sometimes even cook, I think I'll have to read some more.

-Shaun

Rizwan

Kahwa is actually a tea from Afghanistan (the name itself derives from the Arabic word for coffee, Qahwa), and there really isn't a clear cut division of teas along communal lines in Kashmir. I think you may have heard an exaggeration of the origins of this tea, since there are actually very few non-religious customs that divide Muslims and hindus in Kashmir (Kashmiri hindus are voracious meat-eaters too!)


The variety of Kashmiri chai found most commonly in places like Toronto, England, and NYC originates from Sopore Kashmir, but is actually more popular in the Islamabad/Rawalpindi area of Pakistan, where its called Pindi Chai. Instead of the salty Srinagar chai you had, this one is creamy, sweet, and has shredded almonds and pistachios. Its also got a wonderful light pink color to it that is more vibrant than in the photo you have. Its an excellent desert!

Just a side comment, you shouldn't tell a Muslim Kashmiri that his tea is part of Indian cuisine! He'll reprimand you and declare his distaste for all things Indian, especially its army.


Rizwan

Kahwa is actually a tea from Afghanistan (the name itself derives from the Arabic word for coffee, Qahwa), and there really isn't a clear cut division of teas along communal lines in Kashmir. I think you may have heard an exaggeration of the origins of this tea, since there are actually very few non-religious customs that divide Muslims and hindus in Kashmir (Kashmiri hindus are voracious meat-eaters too!)


The variety of Kashmiri chai found most commonly in places like Toronto, England, and NYC originates from Sopore Kashmir, but is actually more popular in the Islamabad/Rawalpindi area of Pakistan, where its called Pindi Chai. Instead of the salty Srinagar chai you had, this one is creamy, sweet, and has shredded almonds and pistachios. Its also got a wonderful light pink color to it that is more vibrant than in the photo you have. Its an excellent desert!

Just a side comment, you shouldn't tell a Muslim Kashmiri that his tea is part of Indian cuisine! He'll reprimand you and declare his distaste for all things Indian, especially its army.


Indian Desi Masala Gallery

Yaa really mate, Indian masala is far better than the rest of the world. Specially Kashmir (North Indian) foods are mouth watering, spicy. I belong to east india, never paid a visit to kashmir due to the terrorism stuffs n all, but still we call that indian paradise. Not only the food, but the culture is very good. Hope to be there someday in near futre. Me bookmarking this blog, and will share my experiences, once I am there.

Green Tea

Interesting stuff, there's some really decent stuff there. Nice one, keep up the good work with the site!

german recipes

these dishes look great its an asian style mixed with a european style that is elegant and tasteful

Green tea

Hey,


Good work with this article, all the recipes look really good, you should add some more green tea recipes there much appreciated

RP

Hi

Would appreciate any information on where we can buy the Kahva leaves from? I just finished my batch and have no plans to travel to India this year.

Found this website http://www.silverleaftea.com/kashmiri-green-chai-tea-p-333:f9889a90a6465d051f44129dd3eebb2d.html

But not sure if its the same product...

Thanks

Brett

Looks like the same product to me, although their version adds cinnamon and cloves. You could order "gunpowder green tea" from the same company or most other online tea sellers. Then you can add your own spices to your liking.

JoJo

This is my answer to Mr. Rizwan. green tea is not from Afghanistan green tea leafs are from Kashmir when kashmir was part of china in old times. Thats why chinese also claim that green tea is a chinese find. anyways kashmiri tea is different from normal green tea used in arab or afghanistan and in china.
Secondly the chai which u are talking about is drived from kashmiri Namkeen chai and cuz punjabi's cannot drink namkeen chai they added sugar in it. same as many kashmiri parents add sugar for their children in the kashmiri tea instead of salt so that they drink it. My family moved in punjab after partition of india and they tell its not too long since this suger added gulabi chai was commercially sold on the shops in lahore and than other big cities. and just for ur info its absolutly not a rawalpindi/islamabad thing and last thing kashmiri numkeen chai/noon chai /loon wali chai also has nuts in it. the only thing different in sugar added commercial chai is that they add pink color and also suger instead of salt.

FOR the readers: in my family soda and pink color is never added in the tea instead u have to find a good quality kashmiri tea. than while cooking you heat up the water and put tea in it and than add cold water and shimer it. you repeat this two three times to get the real pink color with out adding soda and pink color. Soda is added to save time its not right procedure and specially not recomended in my family.

kashmiri safron kehwa recipe is ok but mostly kehwa is made with out saffron may be cuz its too expensive. Kashmiri's make thier tea in a samawar.

Finally chai word is a Turkish word Turkish chai = tea.
[email protected]

Nail Fungus

The first thing I do every morning is a cup of green tea and after half an hour of yoga. It's like the most healthy ritual.

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The fact tea is a Muslim or Hindu tradition and nothing else?

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I had the opportunity to celebrate my honeymoon with Indian dinner and including green tea together with crushed almonds. Everyone was impressed.

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Any drink or dish containing green tea or green tea leaves in its preparation is a sign of healthy food.

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The Chinese tea tastes great, very recommendable

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