Arjun Singh Rathore
Waking up to a news article free of doom and gloom is a pleasant surprise, especially when it involves a row between the choice of tea, a normal CTC tea (Crush, Tear, and Curl) or Noon Chai. Not because it is a fitting topic to tiff over, given that those very leaves set the tone for the day. Noon chai which originated from the Himalayas, is definitely my first choice where salt is added as an electrolyte to prevent dehydration, especially at high altitudes.
Tea is the world’s most popular beverage. It is the second most consumed drink after water in the world. Dive into a cup of tea with a chemist and discover the rich molecular brew that can be extracted from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Tea contains over a hundred different chemical compounds which contribute to its colour, taste and scent, and its stimulating effects. The best-known is caffeine, but no one wants to know how does caffeine end up in tea and how can we get it out? Perhaps the preparation of tea in itself helps in removing some of the caffeine from the tea leaves, when we steep the tea in hot water for 30 seconds to a minute.
A pinch of salt added to a cup of tea, is not only popular in Indian subcontinent but a very much accepted drink all over the world. Michelle Francl, a professor of chemistry in US shared an advice to add a pinch of salt to make a perfect cup of tea. His research work shows that salt as the sodium ions help block our mouth’s bitter receptors. The professor advised tea lovers to add a pinch of salt and encouraged them to steep their tea quickly by dunking and squeezing the bags. The recipe made its way to the internet and led to an uproar in the UK after it was published in her book ‘Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea’, where she wrote about the chemistry behind making the perfect cup of tea. Beginning with the leaves, Steeped explores the chemistry behind different styles of tea, from green teas to pu-erh. It tackles the age-old question of when, or even whether, to add milk. And it puts the chemistry to use with advice on how to brew a better cup.
Origin stories of the tea allege that it came from Yarkland (which later became Xinjiang, China) to Kashmir through the Silk Route. In Central Asian countries salty milk teas, such as the Uyghur tea ‘Etkanchay’ and the Mongolian tea ‘Suutei Tsai’ are equally popular as compared to CTC, which more commonly addressed as ‘Lipton Tea’ among the consumers.
While people from the UK are not very happy about adding salt to their tea, yet salt is very common in various tea preparations in India. Use of alkaline salts, like baking soda, in tea originated from the Tibetan plateau, where naturally-occurring deposits of soda were used to darken po cha. Later, in Ladakh, eastern Kashmir, hot spring soda crystals were used in local butter tea, or gur gur cha. Gur-gur chai has yak’s milk, butter and tea leaves from an area in Tibet called Pemagul. A daily essential for Ladakhis, gur-gur chai, which popularly known as butter tea, is mostly consumed with a traditional bread. An acquired taste, it is said to help in combating the bitter cold in the region by replenishing lost electrolytes due to dehydration at high altitudes. Residents of Kashmir Valley adopted the practice from Ladakh, importing soda (called phul) from them and brick tea from Lhasa, then replacing yak butter with milk and cream to fit local tastes.
The word ‘Noon’ translates to salt in languages like Bengali, Nepali and Koshur (Kashmiri). Noon chai also called as ‘Nun Chai’ or gulaabi chai gets its pink colour from the addition of sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. Kashmiri Pandits refer to this Kashmiri tea as ‘Sheer chai’. Shir, the term from which Sheer chai is derived from, means ‘Milk’ in Persian. Gulaabi Chai or Pink Tea is also used as an adjective referencing the characteristic pink hue of the tea, such as to describe textiles. Nun Chai is usually consumed along with any of the long list of Kashmiri breads, such as Naan, Girdha, Kulcha, Lawasa, Tsochwor or Til-vadha.
Noon chai is traditionally made from green tea leaves, milk, salt and baking soda, and is usually cooked in a ‘Samavar’. The leaves are boiled for about an hour with baking soda until it develops a burgundy colouration, then ice or cold water is added to “shock” it and make it stay that colour. When milk is added, it combines with the burgundy to yield its signature pink colour. It is then aerated by ladling out some of it and pouring it back into the pot to incorporate tiny air bubbles into it, a process that yields a froth and that may take hours to do by hand.
Sugar is not traditionally used in Kashmiri recipes, although newer commercial preparations in many restaurants around the world and tea stalls that serve Kashmiri cuisine may include sweeteners or exclude salt. In Pakistan, it is often served with sugar and nuts.
When tea leaves are boiled, molecules called polyphenols are extracted from the leaves into the water. In green teas like those used in Noon chai, the polyphenols extracted act similar to the substance phenol red, which changes color depending on the pH level of the substance it is in, yellow when it is acidic, and red when it is alkaline. Since Noon chai is boiled for a long time, a lot of color-changing polyphenols are extracted from the leaves. When alkaline baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is added to it, the tea takes on its deep red color, which then turns pink with milk.
Namakeen Chai is not something new for Indians. Besides the habitants of Himalayas, Bhopal’s Namak wali chai is also very popular among the tea lovers and has been consumed by many for generations, a tradition as munching on bun kebabs, with many chai shops adding a pinch of black salt to their brew. The lore goes that the salt was originally added to help the sore throats of poets congregating around tea stalls and singing their works, thereafter morphing into a tradition. But hold on to your britches, dear Britishers, some chaiwallas in Bhopal will even sprinkle in a little black pepper on request.
According to Rajni Saha, Kolkata-based tea taster, quote unquote, “Tea is supposed to have a certain briskness that’s often misunderstood as bitterness by many. Adding salt kills the bitterness but is ultimately not a marriageable proposition. If you want to try it, add salt to lightly brewed Assam tea, without sugar and milk”.
The World Health Organisation also recommends that the daily salt intake of a person should be 5gm. People whose immune system is fragile should consume pink tea daily. Pink tea strengthens bones, Pink tea contains magnesium, vitamin C, potassium, and sodium. Hence, it helps in building stronger bones. You can balance the pH levels of pink tea by adding lemon juice in it.
Chai is not just a drink, it is the fragrant soul of Indian kitchen with the spice of life that warms the heart and soul. Cheers!!
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