Kashmiri Chai With Gin Recipes

Steps:

• Add the cardamom pods to a mortar and crush with a pestle into small pieces.
• Add the room temperature water, Kashmiri tea leaves, crushed cardamom, star anise pods, cloves, and cinnamon sticks to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, add the baking soda (it will fizz and bubble) and reduce the heat to medium. While boiling, use a ladle to scoop some liquid from the pot and pour it back in from as high as you can without splattering (the aeration of the liquid helps give the tea its pink hue). Continue until the liquid is reduced by half, 7-10 minutes.
• Add the ice water and continue to aerate the tea with the ladle for another 2 minutes. Add the milk, half-and-half, sugar, and salt and bring to a gentle simmer. Once simmering, remove the pot from the heat and steep for another 3 minutes.
• Strain the chai through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof spouted measuring cup, making sure to squeeze out all the liquid. Discard the solids.
• Divide the chai between 3 mugs and top with the crushed pistachios and almonds. Serve immediately.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Finely grind nuts, cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron with mortar and pestle or in grinder. Add nutmeg.
• Bring milk just to a simmer in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then whisk in brown sugar, salt, and nut mixture and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes to infuse flavors.
• Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan, then add tea leaves and boil 1 minute. Pour tea through a fine-mesh sieve into hot-milk mixture, discarding tea leaves, and cook chai over low heat 1 minute.
• Divide gin among 4 (8-ounce) mugs and top with hot chai.