Tea connoisseurs should pay attention to such a wonderful drink as Kalmyk tea. This article will provide information about the history of the drink, whether it can be considered something more than a drink, and some beneficial properties for the body. Let's start with the fact that calling Kalmyk tea "Kalmyk" is a mistake. However, many people make the mistake of saying "Kalmyk". Which cannot but be sad. Remember, you need to speak Kalmyk. Now let's move on to history and description.
History and description
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Oirats (Western Mongols) broke up into several tribes. Among them was a nomadic tribe, which at that time moved to the Russian Kingdom, where they began to be called Kalmyks. Since this people is Mongolian, they brought Mongolian traditions and recipes with them, that is, tea as well. In different recipes, spices, seasonings (pepper, cloves, etc.) and butter are often added. However, in Mongolian traditional cuisine it is not customary to add spices! In Mongolian cuisine, there is a very similar drink - sutei tsai. Apart from spices and oil, there are no differences between Mongolian tea and Kalmyk tea, which means that Kalmyk tea comes from sutei tsai.
The Mongols are a nomadic people, a people of conquerors. In the 12th-13th centuries they conquered Central Asia. In particular, they conquered Turkestan or, as it was also called, Uygurstan. The local people, the Uighurs, have been mentioned since the beginning of our era and have an interesting drink for us - atkanchay. This is a strongly brewed long leaf tea, to which milk is added in proportions of 1: 1, heavily salted, allowed to boil, and then butter or sour cream is added and brought to a boil again!
Tea has been known to them for a very long time, since the Silk Road passed through them, laid back in the 2nd century BC. It is not possible to look further into the history of the drink, however, this drink (atkanchai) was also known to Tibetan monks, who slightly changed it with their method of preparation, but not with the ingredients. Thus, Kalmyk tea has existed for at least one and a half thousand years!
Kalmyk tea - cooking recipes
It is advised to take usually large-leaf black and green teas. In the recipes below, the drinks will be made once with green tea, once with black tea, and once with red tea with eucalyptus brought from Spain. The smell from him - mmm, just a fairy tale.
Recipe one
The drink has almost no smell. It smelled like fish during the cooking process, but that's all because of the nutmeg. Maybe the nut was not the right one, but it seems better not to add it. Meanwhile, the taste is pleasant, mild. You can smell both tea and milk. Salt was just right: I didn’t want to spit. But cloves and bay leaves could be added more. Two sprigs of cloves and one laurel are clearly not enough. Pepper was not felt at all - it is better to grind it, but then you need to reduce the amount. By the way, even after one mug there is a slight surge of strength. The tea also eased the sore throat (and maybe the added oil). All in all, great taste and health benefits despite the nut. At the same time, the drink causes pleasant soft thoughts, a very cozy atmosphere is created. Amazing. By the way, with such a volume of water and milk, we got 3 mugs of tea at the exit.
Ingredients • 2-3 tablespoons of green tea; • 2 glasses of water; • 2 glasses of milk; • 5 sprigs of cloves; • 3 bay leaves; • 4 pinches of salt; • 8 peas of black pepper; • 3 pinches of nutmeg;
• 1 teaspoon of butter.
Cooking
Pour tea into a saucepan, pour cold water over it, put on fire.
When the water boils, pour in the milk and add the spices. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, make sure that the milk does not “run away” (it is capable of this).
Then boil for 5 minutes, stir. Sometimes remove the milk film. Then strain, pour into mugs, and squeeze the tea leaves into spilled mugs. When serving, add a tablespoon of butter. The color of the drink is slightly brownish. The butter can be melted ahead of time, but is not required.
Recipe two
This recipe is completely different, you can’t even call it a drink. It should turn out in the form of soup, and with an excess of rice, porridge is obtained. Despite all the inconveniences, the taste is unique, very pleasant. Shock. Everyone should try this, this taste cannot be conveyed, it is almost divine. Roasted flour is the most noticeable. But there is also a slight bitterness from the black tea itself. It's hard to say how rice affected the taste. Experts say that rice was used not for taste, but instead of a disinfectant: rice tends to absorb various elements, including harmful microorganisms from water taken from reservoirs.
Ingredients • 1.5 tbsp. black coarse leaf tea; • 2 glasses of water (0.5 l); • 1 glass of milk; • 1.5 tbsp. butter; • 25-50 grams of flour; • salt;
• 0.5 cup rice (less is better)
Cooking
As in the previous recipe, pour tea with cold water and put on fire. While boiling, fry flour in butter.
As soon as it boils, add milk and half a tablespoon of butter, reduce heat. In the meantime, the flour should already be that color and smell good of baking.
Now it remains to wait for the main brew to boil. Boiled - add flour from the pan, rice, salt. Cook until rice is cooked.
This is such a rich brown. And here's what happened next.
It was the porridge that came out. Further, it was very inconvenient to try to separate the "liquid" mass from everything else. Here is how it was:
In fact, they rubbed porridge into a sieve. It turned out rice starch puree, slippery and unsympathetic.
Meanwhile, the taste is pleasant, as mentioned above. The main thing is to eat hot. Very satisfying, you can’t physically eat more mugs.
Recipe three
Based on the first recipe. First of all, based on the experience of the first recipe, it was decided to add more spices and reduce the volume of liquid. Then, as agreed, red leaf tea with the addition of eucalyptus was taken as the basis. If anything, the eucalyptus itself can be replaced with mint leaves. This tea turned out great. The eucalyptus scent was present all the time and didn't fade at all. They ground as many as 7 peas of black pepper into this version of Kalmyk tea, which was a mistake: it bakes pretty well. Carnation and laurel began to be felt better. For the sake of experiment, you can add a little sugar to the mug - the drink has not deteriorated.
Ingredients • 1.5-2 tbsp. tea spoons • 2 cups of water • 1 cup of milk • Salt (5 pinches) • Ground pepper (3-4 peas) • Laurel (2 leaves for about 2 mugs) • Cloves (4 sprigs for 2 mugs)
• Butter (teaspoon)
Such tea. In addition to eucalyptus leaves, flower petals are visible.
Standard course: filled with water, put on fire.
Waiting for a boil. We got such a rich color.
When boiling, poured milk and added spices.
After boiling, wait 7 minutes, not 5. Whether this affected anything is a mystery. This is how the drink of the shade of coffee with milk turned out.
Well, add a teaspoon of oil. It turned out great!
In general, you can safely experiment with mixtures of teas and spices.
Outcome
Kalmyk tea has very ancient roots. It is difficult to consider its useful properties. Almost any information should be critically treated, so that aid in losing weight, alleviating a hangover, benefits during pregnancy, and the like, up to the cure of Parkinson's, are in doubt.
First, it is very high in calories; secondly, any drink containing caffeine relieves a hangover; thirdly, it contains a lot of caffeine, and this in itself is harmful during pregnancy. In general, the only real benefit that can be felt is the relief of symptoms of respiratory diseases (with acute respiratory infections, flu, etc.).
By the way, the correct recipe as such does not exist. The second recipe can be considered closest to the original, for lack of information about how it was prepared more than a thousand years ago. Look for new tastes, experiment with this tea, as with any other culinary recipe. Are you looking for new interesting dishes? Kalmyk tea is just among these. This is a very original dish, you will be able to surprise your guests with it.
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