Kahwah

The spices are boiled with the green tea, and the almonds go in the cup.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains honey.

Ingredients

1 litre water
2 tablespoons Kashmiri green tea leaves
a large pinch of saffron threads
a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
6 green cardamom pods, crushed
4 cloves
a 2 cm piece of ginger, sliced
2 tablespoons honey, or sugar to taste
40 g almonds, slivered
20 g walnuts, chopped

Method

THE SPICES ARE BOILED WITH THE GREEN TEA, AND THE ALMONDS GO IN THE CUP. Its article's method is exactly that: Kashmiri kahwah IS MADE BY BOILING GREEN TEA LEAVES WITH LOCAL SAFFRON, CINNAMON, CARDAMOM, GINGER, CLOVES AND OCCASIONALLY KASHMIRI ROSES, and IT IS GENERALLY SERVED WITH SUGAR OR HONEY AND CRUSHED NUTS, USUALLY ALMONDS OR WALNUTS. Boiled, not steeped -- which is unusual for a green tea and is why this one can take whole spices at all.
SO THE WATER AND THE SPICES GO ON TOGETHER, FIRST. Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and ginger into the cold water, brought to the boil, and simmered five minutes before any tea appears. Whole spices need longer than leaves.
THE LEAVES GO IN OFF THE BOIL AND STAY THREE MINUTES. Green tea held at a rolling boil turns bitter. Take the pan off, add the leaves, cover.
SAFFRON LAST AND IN A SPOON OF THE HOT LIQUID. Added to the pot at the start it boils away. Bloomed separately and stirred in at the end, it colours the whole litre.
STRAIN IT INTO THE CUPS, NOT INTO ANOTHER POT. Served straight through a strainer so nothing goes on stewing.
NUTS AND HONEY IN THE CUP, UNDERNEATH THE TEA. A teaspoon of slivered almonds and walnuts in the bottom of each cup, honey on top of them, then the tea poured over. They soften as you drink and are eaten at the end.
ITS ARTICLE ALLOWS A VERSION WITH NO TEA IN IT AT ALL. SOME VARIETIES ARE MADE AS A HERBAL INFUSION ONLY -- WITHOUT THE GREEN TEA LEAVES. Worth knowing for the evening.
THE PROPER VESSEL IS A SAMOVAR AND THE ARTICLE DESCRIBES IT. Kahwah IS PREPARED IN A COPPER KETTLE KNOWN AS A SAMOVAR, which CONSISTS OF A FIRE CONTAINER RUNNING AS A CENTRAL CAVITY, IN WHICH LIVE COALS ARE PLACED TO KEEP THE TEA WARM, with the water and the ingredients around it. It adds that kahwah MAY ALSO BE MADE IN NORMAL POTS AND KETTLES.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes