Kashmiri Kahwa is a fragrant green tea flavored with aromatic spices like cinnamon, cardamom, saffron and crushed almonds. This tea is popular in Kashmir (as the name suggests), the warming spices make it the perfect drink to have in the cold weather. You are bored of having your regular tea, then add this to your rotation and you would not be disappointed.
Authentic Kahwa Recipe That I learnt from a friend’s mom
My husband’s best friend is from Kashmir and they live in Delhi. Since my husband spent a lot of his childhood days at his best friend’s house, he often talks to me about all the Kashmiri dishes that he grew up eating often at their house. Once I asked aunty (husband’s friends mom) to teach me all these delicacies when we were at her place, she taught me how to make authentic Kashmiri dum aloo which really blew my mind, I mean no ginger-garlic, onion or tomato, was it even possible to make a curry without these ingredients!
Every time we visit her, she makes us kahwa and we love it. So, last time when we were there, we recorded a video when she was making the kahwa so that we could recreate it later. The tea is flavored with cardamom and cinnamon- those are 2 main spices, you can also use saffron and rose petals. She always crushes the almonds using a mortar and pestle, so I follow her method too.
It’s perfect as an afternoon pick me up or even as a soothing night cap!
Hope you all love it as much as I do!
How To Make Kashmiri Kahwa
- Crush the whole spices!
I like using a mortar and pestle to do this step, you can also use a small coffee grinder. Cinnamon and cardamom are the key spices here.
- The almonds go in next!
Remove the crushed spices from the mortar and then add almonds to it and crush them too. You can also slice the almonds or chop them using a knife.
- Sweeten it the way you like
You can use sugar, honey or any other sweetener of choice to sweeten your kahwa. Let it come to a gentle boil.
- Don’t boil after adding the tea leaves
Once you add the green tea leaves, turn off the gas immediately. Cover and let the tea steep for the flavors to mingle together and then strain into cups.
Which Green Tea To Use?
Honestly, any green tea should work but I use Kashmiri tea from Eastern Vital brand, it’s perfect for kahwa and nice sweet taste and aroma.
Kashmiri Kahwa (Traditional Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 inches cinnamon, use ceylon cinnamon
- 2 green cardamom
- 2 cloves, optional
- 4 whole almonds, raw & unsalted, crushed using mortar and pestle
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
- ¾-1 teaspoon green tea, I use Kashmiri green tea
- few saffron strands, optional
Instructions
- Using a mortar and pestle, crush 2-inches cinnamon, 2 green cardamoms, and 2 cloves. Remove them in a bowl.
- To the same mortar and pestle now, add 4 almonds and crush them. Set it aside.
- Take a pot and add 2 cups water to it and turn heat to medium-high. Add the crushed spices and then add sweetener to taste, I added 2 teaspoons sugar.
- Let the water and spice mixture come to a gentle boil. Immediately, add ¾ teaspoons green tea leaves and turn off the heat.
- Remove the pot from heat and and cover the pot with a lid. Let the tea steep for 2 minutes. Meanwhile take 2 serving cups and equally divide the crushed almonds between the 2 cups. Also add a few saffron strands to each cup (optional).
- Strain the kahwa into the cups using a strainer. Enjoy hot!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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