Kashmiri/Pakistani Pink Chai| Noon Chai |Salt Chai

Chai, everyone loves it! Each region has their own way of preparing chai and their authentic flavors. In Kerala, they used to refer as Katta chai and they usually prepare without milk. There are different varieties of tea like ginger, cardamom, green, chamomile, mint, lemon etc. But Kashmiris and Pakistanis have their way of colored chai called as Noon/Kashmiri tea/pink tea/ Gulabi chai and Sheer Chai. Noon chai is a traditional beverage of Kashmiri which is salty and it’s known that they used to have 2-3 cups a day.

Noon in Kashmiri language is known as salt. The tea is prepared with Kashmiri tea leaves or green tea leaves, milk and salt. Usually, noon chai is served with nuts in Pakistan. A pinch of baking soda is added to give a rich variant of pink color. The tea is buttery in texture and flavored with almonds and pistachios
The real trick is to get the exact pink color which is bright red before adding the milk. As soon as I heard of its name, I surfed about noon chai. The pink color of it was so inviting that I wanted to try. Once tasted, I am in love with this tea, its flavors, and its aroma.
Now, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tsp of pure green tea leaves
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2-3 pods of cardamom, seeds removed and crushed roughly
1 1/2- 2 cups of water
1 1/2 – 2 cups of whole milk
1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt OR sugar if you prefer, but it’s ‘Salt tea’ so salt is more authentic!
Garnish: 1-2 tsp of ground pistachios and almonds and 1 tsp of poppy seeds

Method:

In a pan on medium heat, boil water with green tea leaves until it’s frothy. Add bicarbonate soda to the water and stir vigorously for few seconds.
Add rest of the water, cardamom and salt. Boil on medium flame until the mixture becomes bright red
Lower the flame and add milk. Whisk vigorously the mixture until it becomes frothy. The color of the tea would have changed from bright red to pin. If you add more milk, the color gets even lighter. Add milk according to your color needs.
Garnish with grounded pistachios, poppy seeds and crushed almonds

Enjoy this salty tea and let me know your experience in comments!