Clover Pink Moon Kashmiri Chai
Courtesy of Clover Sonoma
Kashmiri chai, known for its layered spice flavors and signature pink hue, traditionally calls for a time-consuming, laborious process of aeration and cooking. This recipe from writer and recipe developer Zainab Shah uses a few shortcuts without compromising on flavor, giving you a rich, savory tea in just about 20 minutes.
Kashmiri chai comes from the Kashmir Valley in South Asia—a region abundant with a variety of tea leaves—but perhaps the most striking is the Kashmiri tea leaf, which gives the tea its signature pink color, although on occasion even Kashmiri tea leaves come out golden-beige. Don’t fret, a golden tea tastes just as good, especially with the addition of Clover Pink Moon, with its signature flavors of hibiscus and berries.
This recipe and others like it can be found in the article “Moon Milk Is the Ingredient You Should Be Baking with Right Now.”
How to Make It
1
Prepare your ice water so that by the time you are making your tea, there are no cubes left. Set aside.
2
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of room-temperature water to a boil on high heat. Add the tea leaves, cardamom pods, star anise, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.
3
Once the mix is boiling, add the baking soda. The mixture should begin to froth a bit; this is normal. Reduce the heat to medium, and aerate the tea using a ladle, scooping some liquid and pouring it back into the saucepan from a height of 3 to 4 inches. Continue cooking on medium high heat until the liquid is reduced to half, about 10 to 12 minutes. This is when the mixture should turn a pink hue. If it hasn’t, add a pinch more baking soda.
4
Add the ice water, and continue aerating with the ladle for a few minutes. Add the milk, salt, and sugar if you’re using it, and simmer for an additional 2-5 minutes, or until warmed through. Do not overheat, as this will tarnish the pink color.
5
Strain the Kashmiri chai into four cups using a sieve or coffee filter. Garnish with pistachios, almonds, and jamaica flowers and enjoy!
Ingredients
1 ½ cups water
3 tbsp Kashmiri tea leaves or green tea leaves
5 whole cardamom pods
5 whole star anise
3 cinnamon sticks
5 cloves
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups ice water
2 cups Clover Pink Moon
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp sugar (optional)
2 tsp crushed pistachios
2 tsp crushed almonds
1 tbsp jamaica flowers
Directions
1
Prepare your ice water so that by the time you are making your tea, there are no cubes left. Set aside.
2
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of room-temperature water to a boil on high heat. Add the tea leaves, cardamom pods, star anise, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.
3
Once the mix is boiling, add the baking soda. The mixture should begin to froth a bit; this is normal. Reduce the heat to medium, and aerate the tea using a ladle, scooping some liquid and pouring it back into the saucepan from a height of 3 to 4 inches. Continue cooking on medium high heat until the liquid is reduced to half, about 10 to 12 minutes. This is when the mixture should turn a pink hue. If it hasn’t, add a pinch more baking soda.
4
Add the ice water, and continue aerating with the ladle for a few minutes. Add the milk, salt, and sugar if you’re using it, and simmer for an additional 2-5 minutes, or until warmed through. Do not overheat, as this will tarnish the pink color.
5
Strain the Kashmiri chai into four cups using a sieve or coffee filter. Garnish with pistachios, almonds, and jamaica flowers and enjoy!
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