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Malai cha (cream tea)
মালাই চা: strong sweet milk tea in a clay cup under a thick spoon of malai skimmed from simmering milk
In Bogura, the town famous for its sweet doi, and in the lanes of Old Dhaka around Nazira Bazar, tea stalls keep a wide karai of milk barely simmering all evening. Layers of skin build up on top; the tea-maker lifts them off as malai and lays a thick spoonful on every cup of strong, sweet milk tea, poured into small unglazed clay bhar that give the tea a faint earthy smell. People stand around after maghrib prayers or late at night, sipping through the cream and finally eating it with a finger. The tea is malty and syrupy-sweet; the malai is soft, rich and slightly caramelised. The usual mistake is boiling the milk hard: a rolling boil breaks the skin into flakes and you never get a thick sheet. Keep it at a lazy shiver and lift the skin every 5 minutes. The tea is ready when it is the colour of milky caramel and coats the back of a spoon; the malai is ready when it lifts off as a wrinkled, leathery sheet. Strong CTC tea makes this fairly caffeinated. Chef's tip: soak clay cups in water for ten minutes first, so they don't drink up the tea or smell dusty.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the malai
- 2 cups full-fat milkfor simmering and skimming
For the tea
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 4 tsp strong CTC black tea leavesAssam or Sylhet
- 1 ¼ cups full-fat milk
- 4 tbsp sugaror to taste
- 2 green cardamom pods (optional)lightly crushed, optional
To serve
- 4 small clay cups (bhar) (optional)soaked in water for 10 minutes, or use small glasses
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Pour 2 cups full-fat milk into a wide, heavy pan and bring to the boil over medium heat, then turn it down so the surface only shivers, with a few lazy bubbles at the edge.
5 minStep 2: Leave it undisturbed until a thick skin forms. Push it to one side of the pan with a spoon and leave it there; repeat every 3–4 minutes so the skins pile up into a soft, wrinkled mass of malai.
15 minStep 3: Meanwhile bring 1 ¼ cups water to a rolling boil in a saucepan, add 4 tsp strong CTC black tea leaves and 2 green cardamom pods and boil for 2 minutes until very dark.
3 minStep 4: Add 1 ¼ cups full-fat milk and 4 tbsp sugar and simmer, stirring now and then, for 5 minutes until the tea turns deep caramel and coats the back of a spoon.
5 minStep 5: Strain the tea into the clay cups. Lift the malai from the milk pan and place a generous spoonful on each cup so it floats; the leftover thin milk can go into tomorrow's tea. Serve hot.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 200 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 22 g
- Fat
- 9 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does malai cha (cream tea) take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 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 full-fat milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of full-fat milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
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