Tea (Chai Culture)

Tea as its call in Urdu CHAI is traditional beverage in Pakistan and people are addict to this in such a extent that a day start with cup of tea, in a average family morning and evening tea is a must some family even drink tea after every meal. Whenever a guest arrives it’s a family tradition to offer hot tea with snack like biscuits, Samosas. Pakistanis are very hospitable by nature and love to entertain guest to their best. It’s a saying that best tea you get is at the trucks stand on the heavy way and they are called Chai Dhabas.


We are talking about chai culture so let me give some detail that the most basic form of chai is the black tea with milk and sugar. So we can say that There is no fixed recipe or preparation method for black chai and many families have their own special versions of the tea which make good blend but the key to make good black tea is to leave the tea leaves or mixture in the hot/boiling water long enough to get the flavor of the tea but not too long. Excessive exposure of tea to heat will release the bitter tannins in the tea leaves. Brewing the tea is a secret to make good tea so always use a teapot to brew the tea. Now day’s people are too busy and usually use teas bags but tea leaves have its own flavor. In my family tea time is very special as it’s the time we share each other company and discussion on different topics is a routine of the day.

There are many type of tea variations come to the table of Pakistani like Doodh patti chai or Pakki chai,Sulimain chai or Masala wali Chai,adhiya means half milk and water,subz(green )chai, Ginger(Adrak wali)chai,Qehwa & Kashmir chai. Let me share my family recipes for different type of teas

Doodh Patti Chai

21/2 cup of milk

2teaspoon tea leaves

2pieces of Cardamoms (choti illachi or green illachi)

Sugar to taste

Method: boil the milk on low flame then while boiling put the tea leaves and let it simmer by adding the cardamom which give a good aroma ,stir it a little and allow to brew a little then strained the tea leaves and pour in a mug or teacup and enjoy with rusks called in Urdu papa.

Green tea has a different kind of leaves from black tea it’s usually served after meal. But green tea you simply add leaves to hot boiling water and simmer a little then add lemon or sugar to it and drink hot.

Adrak Chai or Ginger chai

It’s good for stomach aches and usually given to children when they are sick.

1/2inch piece of gingercrushed,3teaspoon tea leaves,1/2teaspoon aniseed(snouf)!tablespoon basil leaves(tulsi ke patti)2/3cup milk,11/2cup water, sugar to taste,

Put water in a small pot on medium heat add ginger, basil, aniseed .bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes with pot partially covered. Add the sugar, tea and milk to the mixture .boil a little then remove from heat strain and serve hot.



Kashmiri Chai, it’s a pink milk tea with pistachios and almond on top .mostly served in wedding or during winter season.

Method for preparation

1tablespoon green tea

4cups water

4ilachi or cardamom

Baking soda pinch

1/2litre milk

Sugar to taste

heat the water with green tea leaves until only two cups left in the pan add one cup of water more and keep boiling until it turn pink color add illachi and soda and simmer a little then remove from heat ,use a strainer and strains the tea water keep a side. In a separate pan heat milk mix the water mixture together and simmer a little then add pista and badam(almond)on top of your cups and serve hot.(tip the mixture of tea is pour into one mug to another mug many times as  this will enhance the taste)



Masala wali Chai

11/2 cup water

11/2inch stick of cinnamon

8 cardamoms (choti illachi/green one)

6whole cloves

1/4fresh ginger root or 1/4tsp ginger powder

2/3cup of milk

6teaspoon sugar

3tsp of tea leaves (chai ke Patti)

Simmer water with all the spices for 10 minutes on slow heat then add milk, sugar and tea leaves and simmer again for five minutes remove from heat and strain the tea chai and enjoy but be careful as it very hot cup of tea.