Beverages
Chiya (Nepali Milk Tea)
चिया
Chiya is the drink that punctuates every Nepali day: strong black tea boiled hard with milk, sugar and a handful of crushed spices until it is sweet, tannic and thoroughly perfumed. The masala version leans on ginger, cardamom, clove and Nepali bay leaf (tejpat), which lends a floral note you rarely find in chai elsewhere. It is poured into small glasses at tea stalls, offered to every visitor within minutes of arrival, and drunk at all hours.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Total
- 17 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
At the stove
Method
Lightly crush the ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and peppercorns together in a mortar so the oils are released but the spices stay in coarse pieces.
Bring the water to a boil in a small pan and drop in the crushed spices and the torn bay leaf.
Boil for 3 to 4 minutes until the water is fragrant and stained pale gold.
Add the tea leaves and let them steep at a boil for 2 minutes — the liquid should go a deep reddish brown.
Pour in the milk and the sugar, stirring to dissolve.
Bring back to a boil, then immediately lower the heat as it rises up the pan. Let it climb and settle two or three times; each rise deepens the colour and body.
Simmer for a final 3 to 5 minutes for a richer, creamier cup.
Strain through a fine sieve into small glasses and serve piping hot, ideally with biscuits or a plate of jeri and swari.
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