Noon chai (), also called Sheer chai (), Namkeen chai (), Kashmiri tea or Pink tea, is a traditional
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 north ...
beverage, originating in
Kashmir. It is made with
gunpowder tea
Gunpowder tea (; pronounced ) is a form of tea in which each leaf has been rolled into a small round pellet. Its English name comes from its resemblance to grains of gunpowder. This rolling method of shaping tea is most often applied either to d ...
(green tea leaves rolled into small balls), milk and
baking soda
Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3 ...
.
Etymology
The word ''noon'' means '
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
' in several
Indian languages such as
Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to:
* People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir
* Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley
* Kashmiri language, their language
People with the name
* Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
,
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
,
Rajasthani
Rajasthani may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India
* Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there
* Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region
* Rajasthani architecture
* Rajasthani art ...
,
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
and
Nepali. It is used in several other terms, such as the ''noon-dab'' ("salt promise") custom of
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...
, where a hand is dipped in salt to signify a solemn promise.
Kashmiri Hindus refer to this Kashmiri tea as "Sheer chai".
Preparation
Noon chai is traditionally made from a type of green tea leaves, milk, salt, baking soda and usually cooked in a ''
samavar''.
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 who appropriate
Kashmiri cuisine
Kashmiri cuisine is the cuisine of the Kashmir Valley in the Indian subcontinent. Kashmiris have developed the art of cooking to a very high degree of sophistication and evolved a cuisine quite distinct from that of any part of the world. Rice ...
, may include sweeteners.
Noon chai is served in
Northern India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
(
Jammu and Kashmir) and areas with even small Tibetan population such as
Mainpat
Mainpat is a hill station and small village in the Surguja district in the northern part of the state of Chhattisgarh, India. It lies about by road from Ambikapur, India, Ambikapur. This hill station is 50 km south of Chhattisgarh#Divisions, div ...
,
Chhattisgarh. In Pakistan, it is often served with sugar and nuts (for non-
Kashmiris
Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language, living mostly, but not exclusively, in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern ...
who are not acquainted with salty tea),
at special occasions, weddings, and during the winter months. Noon chai is an essential part of Kashmiri breakfast and supper, It is consumed with various types of traditional bread made in Kashmir. Kashmiri chai or Kashmiri tea is pink, milky and creamy and is usually garnished with a sprinkling of chopped almonds and pistachios. Noon chai is often made by using gunpowder green leaf tea, which is a type of green tea rolled into balls. The gunpowder tea is heated to a high temperate, in which baking soda is added. The baking soda then reacts with the gunpowder tea at a high temperature (usually boiling point) and produces a deep red, maroon colour. This process is typically done two or three times by cooling the mixture by adding ice and then reboiling it, which results in a deep red hue being released from the reaction. When milk is added, it acquires a pink colour. Many shops will not undertake such a labour-intensive process in order to create a red hue, instead using an instant Kashmiri chai mix or just adding red food colouring to imitate the baking soda generated pink colour.
Major Servings
Noon chai is usually served at breakfast time in the
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 ...
n-administered Kashmir Valley. People prefer to take tea instead of taking any fruit or vegetable for breakfast. Kashmiri bread is served along with the tea and with butter also.
In the month of Holy Ramadan Sheer chai is widely sold and served in
Patna, Bihar
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
, notably in the central district of Sabzibagh (= vegetable garden).
See also
*
Indian cuisine
Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, he ...
*
Kashmiri cuisine
Kashmiri cuisine is the cuisine of the Kashmir Valley in the Indian subcontinent. Kashmiris have developed the art of cooking to a very high degree of sophistication and evolved a cuisine quite distinct from that of any part of the world. Rice ...
*
Butter tea
Butter tea, also known as ''po cha'' (, "Tibetan tea"), ''cha süma'' (, "churned tea"), Mandarin Chinese: ''sūyóu chá'' ( 酥 油 茶) or ''gur gur cha'' in the Ladakhi language, is a drink of the people in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhut ...
*
Kulhar
*
Masala chai
Masala chai (, ; Urdu: مصالحہ چائے, Hindi: मसाला चाय) is an Indian tea beverage made by boiling black tea in milk and water with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. Originating in India the beverage has gained worl ...
References
6. Life of a Notable Kashmiri by Abid Bashir
External links
Traditional noon chai recipe
{{Teas
Indian tea
Indian cuisine
Pakistani cuisine
Kashmiri cuisine
Indo-Caribbean cuisine
Blended tea
Tea culture