Happiness is a cup of tea

T-Mag Wednesday 13/November/2019 18:38 PM
By: Times News Service
Happiness is a cup of tea

If you love tea here are some flavoursome options that are truly sip worthy.

KARAK CARDAMOM CHAI
Ingredients
• 2 cups of water
• 4 cardamom pods, crushed
• 2 teaspoons black tea leaves
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons sugar or as per taste
Preparations
• Add water, tea leaves and crushed cardamom to a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
• Allow it to simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes, till the colour of the water changes.
• At this stage, add sugar and simmer for another 3 minutes till the water turns deep red and the sugar has dissolved.
• Finally add milk and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and strain the tea through a sieve and pour into a cup.
• Serve hot.

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ICED MINT LEMON TEA
Ingredients
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup mint leaves,crushed
• 6 tea bags
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• Sparkling water
Preparations
• Combine water and sugar in a saucepan.
• Boil over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Add mint leaves. Mix well and let this syrup cool.
• Meanwhile, boil 2 cups of water. Let the tea steep in the hot water for about 5 minutes.
• Let the tea cool completely.
• Combine the sugar mint syrup, tea mixture, lime juice in a pitcher and top with sparkling water and ice cubes. Stir well.
• Serve cold , garnished with lime wedges and mint sprigs.

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SPICED MILK TEA (MASALA CHAI)
Ingredients

• 2 cups of water
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons black tea leaves
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 1 inch grated ginger
Preparations
• In a mortar and pestle, coarsely crush the spices. Set aside.
• In a saucepan, boil water and add the crushed spices and ginger. Boil for about 3 minutes.
• Add sugar and the tea leaves. Simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add milk and simmer for another 2 minutes.
• Pour the tea into mugs using a tea strainer.
• Serve immediately.

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KASHMIRI PINK TEA( NOON CHAI)
Ingredients

• 2 cups of water ( room temperature)
• 2 cups of cold water
• 2 cups full cream milk
• 3 tbsp green tea leaves
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anises
• 3 cardamom pods, slightly crushed
• Pinch of saffron strands
• Sugar to taste

Preparations
• Pour 2 cups of water, green tea leaves, cardamom pods, aniseed, cinnamon stick, saffron and baking soda in a saucepan.
•Bring to boil on medium heat until the water has reduced to half while stirring. This would take about 20 minutes.
• Once the water has reduced, turn off the heat and add another 2 cups of cold water (this helps in getting the pink colour).
• Stir well and leave it to boil again for around 10 minutes on medium heat.
• Add sugar, milk and simmer for another 5 to 7 minutes.
• Strain the tea into cups and garnish with a few saffron strands.

Oneza Tabish is a food blogger, consultant, and columnist based in Oman. She is also the owner of Oman’s popular Facebook group ‘What’s Cooking Oman.’