Doodh pati chai () is a

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

beverage, originating from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, consumed in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

in which

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

, together with

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

, is boiled with tea. Doodh pati is different from ''saada chai'', in that it only uses milk (as opposed to water) and tea. This tea is quite common in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

. It is marginally costlier than the regular, water-based ''saada chai''.

Etymology and terminology

In many

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

, ''chai'' or ''cha'' is the word for ''

''. This comes from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

(), which originated from the Chinese word for tea (). ''Doodh'' means milk and ''pati'' means leaf. Therefore, the term, ''Doodh pati chai'' literally means milk leaf tea.

Preparation

One preparation method is to add water to a pot and leaving it to a boil along with various spices such as green cardamom, ginger, black cardamom, cinnamon, black peppercorns, black cloves, fennel seeds, nutmeg, dried ginger powder, as well as saffron in the upper to middle classes. Once the water and spices come to a boil, tea is added to it. The mixture is then left to brew. Full cream milk is then added to the mixture and it is then stewed for long periods of time to infuse.

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

is often added as per one's taste. After mixing thoroughly on low heat, a tea strainer is used before serving the chai. It is usually poured into cups but some prefer to drink it the old fashioned way, from the edge of a saucer.

Consumption

Doodh pati is famously consumed in northern India and Pakistan, where it is boiled along with cardamom, ginger and many other whole spices listed above. Typically, it is available at roadside dhabas and chaiwalas at street corners, but is most commonly prepared at home, though less so than its water based alternative. It is mainly consumed in North India and Pakistan, though it is also consumed occasionally in Nepal and Bangladesh and has spread even to the Middle East due to its popularity. Doodh pati is also often served at roadside Dhabas and Chaiwalas all over South Asia. It is also consumed during leisure time after a hectic day.

References

Indian tea Pakistani tea Bengali cuisine Milk tea {{tea-stub

Etymology and terminology

Preparation

Consumption

See also

References