Noon chai

A cup of noon chai accompanied by nuts and dried fruit

Noon chai, also called sheer chai (from Persian, meaning 'milk tea'), gulabi chai, Kashmiri tea or pink tea,[1] is a traditional tea beverage from Kashmir[2] made with salt, milk and baking soda.

Etymology

The word noon means 'salt' in several Indo-Aryan languages such as Kashmiri, Bengali, Rajasthani and Nepali.[3] It is used in several other terms in the Indian subcontinent, such as the noon-dab ("salt promise") custom of Rajasthan, where a hand is dipped in salt to signify a solemn promise.[4]

Preparation

Noon chai is traditionally prepared in a copper samavar.

Noon chai is traditionally made from special tea leaves, milk, salt, and usually cooked in a samavar.[5] A pinch of baking soda gives it a pronounced pink color. Sugar is not traditionally used in Kashmiri home recipes, although newer commercial preparations in Pakistani restaurants and tea stalls may include sweetener. In Kashmiri culture, this beverage may be consumed two to three times a day with traditional Kashmiri breads and pastries like lavasa, sheermaal, kandir Chaeut, bakarkhani kulcha, Tailwoud, Makaiee chauet,& the mostly with saet.

Noon chai is served in many parts of Pakistan as Kashmiri chai, often with sugar and nuts (for non-Kashmiris who are not acquainted with salty tea),[5] at special occasions, weddings, and during the winter months, when the drink is sold at kiosks. Kashmiri people in Pakistan call it sabz chai. It is also served in Afghanistan, where it is known as sheer chai.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NOON CHAI / SALTY TEA / PINK TEA – KASHMIRI NAMKEEN CHAI". Life 'n' Such. April 16, 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Sheer Chai Recipe". Archived from the original on 2012-07-06.
  3. ↑ Bengali and English dictionary. Oxford University. 1856. Retrieved 2014-11-22. ... নূণ Salt ...
  4. ↑ Edward Balfour (editor) (1873). Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Volume 4. Scottish & Adelphi presses. Retrieved 2014-11-22. ... Noon-Dab, Hind., from Noon or loon, salt, and dabna, to dip, bespatter, or sprinkle, a custom among the Rajput races, of dipping the hand in the salt; the Noon-dab, is the most sacred pledge of good faith ...
  5. 1 2 "Noon Chai Recipe and History at Life-n-Such". Lifensuch.com. 2007-04-16. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
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