What’s the weirdest ingredient you have ever add into your morning brew? Ginger, cardamom, herbs, lemon, and even salt goes well with tea. What about adding a dallop of butter? Sounds weird!!! But, a chai wala from Agra serves thie weird concoction dialy. While the video of him preparing butter tea irked users on twitter, we would suggest to take a sip at least once.
Here’s why.
Tea Experiment Gone Too Far!!!
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Also Read: From Po Cha To Pink Tea, These Bizzare Tea Concoctions Will Make You Go Experimental With Tea
Butter Tea Gone Wrong
via: notquitenigella
The chai wala from Baba Tea Stall has gone too far to prepare the Ladakh’s local tea recipe. And, what he prepared was indeed a butter wali chai and not gur-gur chai that locals of Ladakh enjoy.
They use yak butter instead of store-brought butter and tea is prepared in gur-gur ( a wooden cylindrical shaped utensil).
The process of butter tea making is time taking so as to get the right thickness and colour. It begins with boiling tea leaves in gur-gur until the leaves turn dark brown. This takes almost half a day.
Next step is the addition of salt and butter which takes into a different utensil. After shaking it well, the mixture is poured to cup. It tastes a bit cheesy and have pungent aroma as real yak butter goes into it which is difficult to get outside Ladakh.
Also, it’s expensive so not everyone can afford the real butter tea.
Any full fat milk and butter would work best if you want to get the flavor close to this traditional beverage. Don’t use the whole slab like the chai wala from Agra did.
Savoury But Healthy!!!
Too much buttery!!! But this savory cheesy tea is good for your health and NO, we ain’t kidding. This Himalayan tea is the favorite of locals of Ladakh and you’d love it too after reading it’s amazing benefits.
- Good for weight loss
- keep you energetic
- Rich in antioxidants thus good for brain’s health
- Improves symptoms of GERD
- High in linoleic acid thus keep the cholesterol within a safe bar
- Prevent chapping of lips
- Moisture the skin
However, consuming po cha in great amount can reverse the benefits and may cause headache, insomnia, and anxiety.
One Drink, Many Names
Po cha, Gur-Gur cha, or Butter tea, all are same and not just popular among locals of Ladakh, but also people of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal enjoys it everyday. It is also a popular drink in western China where serving butter tea to the guests is an important part of their hospitality. It is best enjoyed with a traditional wheat flour bread, tsampa.
So, if you ever been to Ladakh then must try this savory beverage.