Representative of the region’s gastronomic artistry, these four unique types of tea from Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh could teach us a thing or two about adoption and assimilation.
With winter waning, languorous mornings spent over tea and banter are fast becoming a ritual of the recent past. A ritual to be dutifully brought back and honoured about eight months later. The rising temperatures might have caused tea – the highlight of a misty, mesmerizing morning – to shed some of its charm but it is far too loved to be abandoned altogether. And while that statement is true for all of India, it is truer for Jammu and Kashmir where every region has its own special rendition of the beverage.
Here are four types of tea from Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh that exemplify the region’s culinary diversity and remarkable ability to put a spin on this all-weather drink:
Noon chai of Kashmir – The Pink that Drives Away the Blues
The Kashmir Valley’s famed noon chai (salt tea), or gulabi chai (pink tea) is distinguished by – as the name suggests – its blush pink hue and savoury taste. Made with green tea leaves, a pinch of baking soda, milk, and salt, it is traditionally served alongside Girda or Tsot (bread) slathered with unmelted butter. This specialty Kashmiri tea is widely believed to be a not-so-distant cousin of the savoury, milk-infused teas of Central Asia such as Atkan chai from Yarkand (now in Xinjiang, China). However, none can confirm its origins for sure.
With a hint of bitterness, noon chai is an acquired taste and the uninitiated gastronome may find it more soup-like than tea-like. All the same, it may be regarded as a pan-Valley favourite with Kashmiris from all walks of life relishing it all through the year, finding succour in its familiar warmth and aroma.
Above: Noon Chai or salt tea is an important part of Kashmir’s food culture. Photo courtesy of Rising Kashmir
Masala Chai (Tea) of Jammu – The Concoction that Spices up the Day
Jammu’s “sugar n spice” chai – also referred to as “Lipton Chai” in local parlance after the iconic British brand of tea – isn’t unlike the sweetened, brown concoction drunk with glee in the rest of the country. However it is set apart by certain ingredients that aren’t used at other places. Other than the customary mortar and pestle-crushed adrak (ginger) and elaichi (green cardamom), saunf (whole fennel seeds) is added to the water which makes the tea wonderfully flavourful and fragrant. Pertinently, this combination of ingredients is a very sensible one. With its cooling properties, fennel counters the warmth generated by ginger and cardamom, making the recipe suitable even for summers. Masala tea is widely enjoyed alongside fritters – particularly batter-coated and deep-fried mirchi (chili) or plump chunks of paneer (Indian cottage cheese).
Above: With a unique combination of spices, Jammu’s masala chai makes for a deliciously invigorating drink. Photo courtesy of Pinterest
In the western Jammu district of Poonch, masala tea is given another twist. Here, desiccated coconut is often used as a garnish, smothering the tea with a thick, floating layer. With every sip one encounters a bit of the slightly chewy coconut while savouring the potent flavours of fennel, ginger, and cardamom.
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Ladakhi Butter Tea – A Mouthful of the Himalayas
Known as Gur-Gur Chai in Ladakh, this is another savoury tea from, but not confined to, the region. Also a popular drink in Tibet – where it is known as po cha (butter tea) – this is a beverage perfectly suited to the savage cold of the high Himalayas. Gur-gur chai is made using yak milk, yak butter, salt, and a special variety of black tea leaves from an area called Pemagul in Tibet. However, given the difficulties of procuring this tea leaf and yak milk products, substitutes such as Lipton’s black tea and cow milk and butter are readily used nowadays. Served piping hot, butter tea boosts energy, helps in digestion, and is known to be a remedy for altitude sickness. In Ladakh, it is most often paired with indigenous breads like Balep and Khambir.
Ladakhis’ great love for Gur-Gur chai reflects the shared culinary legacy of the region comprising Tibet, Western China, and parts of the Indian sub-continent including Nepal and Bhutan. With its earthy, full-bodied flavour, this unique tea is at once reminiscent of the simple, convivial Himalayan people who delight in the smallest joys of life.
Above: Gur-Gur chai or Ladakhi tea is traditionally prepared with smoky Tibetan black tea leaves. Photo courtesy of Food and Wine magazine.
Kehwa of Kashmir – Ambrosia for Vegans
With most milk-based Indian teas being out of bounds for vegans, kehwa brings a rare measure of relief to vegan food-lovers who’d like to enjoy a milk-free cuppa without forsaking the benefits of tea. Prepared by boiling green tea leaves with cardamom, cinnamon, saffron, and dried rose leaves, it is commonly sweetened with sugar or honey, and garnished with slivers of almond and a strand or two of saffron before being served. Traditionally, kehwa was prepared in an engraved, elaborate copper kettle known as a samovar, but it can be made just as well using regular pots and kettles. Deliciously fragrant, kehwa is also packed with therapeutic benefits. It is an excellent digestive, acts as a stress buster, detoxifies the system, and keeps cold and cough at bay.
Above: Kashmiri kehwa is commonly served after meals in the Kashmir Valley. Photo courtesy of Tarla Dalal.com
Imprinted in the collective unconscious as a symbol inextricably linked with Kashmir, kehwa has come to define the Valley’s gastronomic heritage. Unlike the lesser known noon chai, kehwa is wildly popular with tourists – foreign and Indian – in Kashmir.
An Enduring Love
It was the British who began the large-scale production of tea in the country, promoting and popularizing it as a tasty drink with curative properties. Despite being a legacy of British imperial rule, it enjoys ritualistic importance in the lives of all Indians. It is the drink we can scarcely imagine our mornings and evenings without. It is what we enjoy sipping in silent reflection and what we like to have loquacious debates over. Similarly, while Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh boast such celebrated tea-based beverages, tea isn’t cultivated locally and the recipes, particularly those of noon chai, gur-gur chai, and kehwa, are widely believed to have originated outside.
Well then. At a time when “foreign influences” are increasingly being shunned, tea can perhaps serve as a reminder that no culinary heritage can ever be completely free of assimilation.
Worth mulling over a cuppa, eh?
Written by Nandini Sen
Email: nandiniseeker@gmail.com
