AI-generated image
Mursalski chai
Mursalski chai (мурсалски чай): Rhodope mountain ironwort tea, drunk hot in the morning
High in the Rhodope mountains, shepherds and villagers start the day with a pot of mursalski chai, brewed from the dried flowering stems of Sideritis scardica, the Balkan ironwort that grows on the limestone slopes around Mursalitsa peak. It tastes gently floral, lemony and a little like chamomile and mint, and is traditionally sweetened with honey or drunk plain. The common mistake is steeping it for just a couple of minutes like black tea; the woody stems need a short simmer to give their full flavour and golden colour. Chef's tip: break the stems into 5 cm pieces so they fit the pot and release more flavour, and use a slice of lemon to brighten the colour. Vegans can sweeten it with sugar instead of honey.
- Total time
- 11 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
- ⅓ oz dried mursalski chai (Sideritis)about 4 flowering stems
- 2 ½ cups water
- 2 slices lemon
- 2 tsp sugar (optional)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (1)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Break ⅓ oz dried mursalski chai (Sideritis) into short pieces and put them in a small pan with 2 ½ cups water.
Step 2: Bring to the boil, then simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes, until the tea is golden.
6 minStep 3: Take off the heat, cover and leave to steep for 3 minutes.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 25 kcal
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 6 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mursalski chai take?
- About 11 minutes in total: 1 minutes to prepare and 10 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 vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- 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 lemon?
- Lime, or 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice per lemon (no zest from bottled juice).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Guava delight
A thick, fragrant blend of ripe guava, mango and banana, boosted with a spoonful of guava powder from the health shop. The book calls it a modern-day vitality drink, drawing on guava's long use in traditional Indian medicine. Serve it well chilled; sieve it if you don't like the little guava seeds.
Power pack
A sweet, energising juice of apples, pears and kiwi fruit with a stick of celery, all used unpeeled for extra goodness. It's naturally sweet, so it needs no sugar. Serve well chilled.
Horchata de chufa
Horchata de chufa is the drink of Valencia's summer, sold ice-cold in the city's horchaterías with long, soft fartons pastries for dipping. It is made from chufas, or tiger nuts: small wrinkled tubers grown around the village of Alboraya just north of Valencia, which have their own protected designation of origin. Soaked, ground with water, strained and sweetened, they give a creamy, nutty, naturally dairy-free milk with a hint of cinnamon. Valencians drink it very cold, or half-frozen as 'granizada'. Chef's tip: soak the tiger nuts for a full 24 hours and change the water once; they must be plump and soft enough to blend into a fine pulp, or the horchata will be thin and taste of raw starch.
Spanish