Pakistani Chai
Serves 2 Difficulty 1/5 Ingredients 4 Steps 7
Pakistani chai is divided into two types. The regular, more popular one is chai (pronounced "cha" in the Punjab region of Pakistan); Another variety, popular in the Kashmir region of Pakistan, is called dud patti (literally "milk tea"). The only difference is that regular chai uses water, milk, and tea, while dud patti uses no water. This recipe is for regular chai. You could get loose tea from any Pakistani and/or…
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup milk (or to taste)
- ⅔–1 cup water
- 2 heaping teaspoons of loose chai tea leaves
- 2 pieces of whole cardamom (optional, but it gives a nice aroma)
Steps
- Simmer water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Tear or grind cardamom shell. Add to pan.
- Microwave milk 2 min, or until very close to boiling over.
- When water nearly boils, slowly add loose tea. Do not overfill the pan.
- Add hot milk until light brown; it darkens only a shade or two. Raise heat to highest.
- If too much milk, mix continuously with a big spoon or spatula. Have utensils ready; this goes fast.
- Remove from heat when chai is about to boil over. Pour through strainer into cup.
- Sweeten with sugar, if desired.
Notes from the original
- Some people prefer making it in a very low heat because it brews slowly and there is not a need of warming the milk. You put all the ingredients in the same order but you don't warm the milk in the microwave. Others put the milk with the water from the start and put the tea in later.
- If you are making tea with teabags, then put in three teabags in the pan.
- Dipping Tea Rusks and wafers go quite nicely with chai.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Pakistani Chai” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-17, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.