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Mauritian vanilla tea
Dité vanille: sweet, milky black tea perfumed with vanilla, poured at every Mauritian kitchen table at four o'clock
In Mauritius the kettle goes on for dité at breakfast and again at four, when the heat of the day breaks and someone brings out gato piment, a packet of biscuits or a slice of gato patate. The tea is grown on the island's central plateau, around Curepipe and the Bois Chéri hills, and the local favourite is black tea perfumed with vanilla, the same vanilla that grows on the neighbouring islands. It is drunk strong, very sweet and milky, often with evaporated or condensed milk: a round, creamy cup with a soft caramel-vanilla scent and no bitterness. The common mistake is boiling the tea leaves with the milk until they stew; brew the tea in water first, then add hot milk. It is ready when the tea is the colour of milky caramel and the kitchen smells of vanilla. A cup has about as much caffeine as ordinary black tea. If you cannot find vanilla-scented Mauritian tea, a strong black tea and a split vanilla pod do the job well. Chef's tip: dry the used vanilla pod and bury it in your sugar jar; next time the sugar alone will scent the tea.
- Total time
- 11 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the tea
- 3 tsp loose black teavanilla-scented Mauritian tea if you have it
- 1 vanilla podsplit; or 1 tsp vanilla extract added at the end
- 2 ½ cups water
- ¾ cup whole milkor 120 ml evaporated milk
- 4 tsp sugaror to taste; Mauritians take it sweet
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Scrape the seeds from the 1 vanilla pod and put both seeds and pod in a small pan with the 2 ½ cups water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes, until the water smells strongly of vanilla.
4 minStep 2: Take off the heat, add the 3 tsp loose black tea, cover and leave to brew for 4 minutes, until dark red-brown.
4 minStep 3: Meanwhile heat the ¾ cup whole milk until steaming, without letting it boil over.
3 minStep 4: Strain the tea into a warm teapot or jug, stir in the hot milk and 4 tsp sugar, and taste: it should be caramel-coloured, sweet and creamy. Serve hot with something sweet or spicy alongside.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 60 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 9 g
- Fat
- 2 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mauritian vanilla tea take?
- About 11 minutes in total: 3 minutes to prepare and 8 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 whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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