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Karak chai
Karak: Gulf roadside tea boiled with evaporated milk and cardamom
Every neighbourhood in Doha, Dubai and Kuwait City has a cafeteria with a hatch on the street, where karak is handed through car windows in paper cups at all hours. Brought to the Gulf by South Asian workers and now firmly local, it is black tea boiled hard with sugar and cardamom, then simmered again with evaporated milk until it is strong, sweet and the colour of toffee; a few strands of saffron mark the Gulf version. Chef's tip: pour the tea from a height between two pans a few times; the froth and slight cooling give the silky karak texture.
- Total time
- 15 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Put 1 ¼ cups water, 2 tbsp strong loose black tea (Assam or CTC), 5 green cardamom pods and 1 pinch saffron threads in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over a high heat. Boil for 3–4 minutes until the tea is very dark red-black.
5 minStep 2: Add 3 tbsp sugar and stir to dissolve, then pour in ¾ cup evaporated milk.
Step 3: Bring back to the boil over a medium heat. As it rises up the pan, lift it off the heat until it settles, then return it. Do this 3–4 times over 5 minutes, until the tea is a deep caramel colour. Common mistake: taking it off at the first boil gives a pale, thin tea; karak needs that long simmer.
6 minStep 4: Strain into a jug, pour it back and forth between jug and pan from a height 3–4 times to froth it, and serve in small cups.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does karak chai take?
- About 15 minutes in total: 2 minutes to prepare and 13 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 2 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of green cardamom pods?
- A pinch of ground cardamom per 2 pods.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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