In my last trip to India, I was introduced to this incredibly fragrant, flavorful, gentle Kashmiri Tea. Green tea with saffron, rose petal and sweet spices. I am a tea junkie and I feel obliged to share this one. What sets this apart, in my mind, is the use of delicate sweet spices and multiple infusions (ala some high-end Chinese tea).
Using a 21st century “samovar”, you can use multiple infusions to last you an entire afternoon of incessant flavorful tea from a scant teaspoon of tea. See picture: this pot has no beak, the tea comes out of its bottom – pardon my language- into the drinking cup. Enjoy!
Special tools:
A Steeping pot; an electric kettle for heating water.
Ingredients
- 3/4 tsp Kashmiri green tea
- 8-10 strands saffron
- 1/4 tsp edible dehydrated rose petals
- Sweet spices: 3-4 whole green cardamom pods + 1 inch canela (Mexican cinnamon stick)
- Optional: dash of Himalayan pink salt
Method
Bring a cup of water to 198 F. Place all the above ingredients in a teapot and pour the hot water into the pot and let steep for about thirty seconds. Strain into a drinking cup.
You can use multiple infusions- don’t discard the tea mix but use fresh hot water for a second, third and even fourth cup of tea. Adjust the steeping time to your preference.
Notes, hints, tips:
- The Himalayan pink salt is my contribution to this classic mix: the salt rounds out the flavor (and I believe helps your body absorb water).
My grandfather used to take a little salt in his tea and the rest of the family scoffed. Now I totally understand. - What makes this Kashmiri tea work with the very delicate flavors of saffron and rose petals is the use of green, not black, tea. The Mexican canela is milder than the regular Malabar or even Saigon cinnamon.
My regular go-to tea has been the kadak (strong) CTC -Crush, Tear, Curl- pellet, also called mamri tea. But just once a day. For the rest, I flirt with these other gentle, soul-caressing ones. - The tea gets stronger with longer steeping time. So you can adjust based on your preference. This tea is more amenable to multiple infusions.
There is nothing worse than lukewarm tea; so keep the water hot. - In my trips to Hong Kong, I had seen the use of porcelain (China) teapots for multiple infusions at tea tasting events. You can use Chinese teapots if that is more easily available for you.
The teapot shown in the picture here was bought at Teavana in New York. It is very convenient to use: once the steeping is done, you simply place the pot on your cup and the built in mechanism automatically strains the tea into your cup, leaving the tea leaves behind for the next infusion. - You may add honey to sweeten to your cup (not teapot), if you wish.
- Sulaimani Tea/ Malabar Tea: India never disappoints me with its variety: I was besotted by Sulaimani in a Tea House in Mumbai. Coincidentally, an Iranian general with a similar name was hot in the news and that confused me about the tea’s origin. But the Sulaimani formula hails from Kerala.
It is a sweetened black (no milk) tea with a dash of lemon and a few Malabar spices – cinnamon, clove etc. The sweetner is usually honey, and sometimes even jaggery (you can use Mexican piloncillo or panela). - Ma’s Tea. When my mother visited me, I got addicted to her style of spiced black tea. I streamlined the process as: Nuke for 2 minutes 1 cup of water, about 1/8 tsp freshly grated ginger and 2-3 grinds of black pepper. Meanwhile, place 1 tsp black tea (I used Tata Tea Gold ) in the teapot (like the Teavana tea pot). Pour the hot water into the pot. Let steep for 30 secs. Pour the black tea into a cup with 1 tsp sugar (2 cubes). Stir. Serve hot.
[I got into the habit of using a second infusion in the Teavana pot for a 2nd cup for myself, when I served my Mom.]
