Kuurma chai

Ingredients

The roux

• 60 gbutter
• or sheep tail fat
• 4 tablespoonsplain flour

The tea

• 2 tablespoonsblack tea leaves
• 500 mlwater
• 1 litrewhole milk
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• or to taste

Sometimes added

• black pepper
• a spoonful of kaymak or cream
• a little more butter to float

To serve

• in wide bowls
• with bread
• at breakfast in the high pastures

Directions

1. Flour is browned in butter before anything else. Flour cooked in fat is a roux. Mornings in the high pastures are cold. Bring the water to a boil in a small pot. Add the black tea leaves to it. Let them boil for about five minutes. Strain the tea through a fine sieve. Discard all of the spent leaves. Set the strained tea aside for now.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy pot. Use a wide pot with a thick base. Let it melt over a medium heat. Sprinkle the flour into the melted butter. Stir it in with a wooden spoon. It forms a thick paste at once. Cook it over a medium low heat. Stir it constantly the whole time. Give it a good six or seven minutes. Flour in fat catches and burns very fast. It must be thrown away if it burns.
3. Stir right into the corners each time. Judging the roux takes a look and a smell. Take it to a warm brown colour. Stop while it still smells sweet and nutty. Take the pot off the heat for a moment. Add the strained tea a ladle at a time. Whisk it hard after each addition.
4. Let it come together before adding more. A little at a time keeps it smooth. Whisk rather than stir throughout. Return the pot to a very low heat. Add the milk gradually, whisking as you go. Keep whisking until it is all in. Whole milk is what this needs.
5. Bring it up slowly to a bare simmer. Stir it constantly as it heats. Use a pot larger than you think you need. Never walk away from it on the heat. Let it simmer very gently indeed. Stir it steadily the whole time. Judging the thickness takes a look.
6. Add more milk if it goes too far. Taste a little to check for rawness. Cook it on if it still tastes floury. The roux browning helps but does not finish it. Add the measured salt to the pot. Stir it right through thoroughly. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. It should taste clearly salted.
7. Add black pepper if you like it. That is done in the pastures particularly. Pour it out into wide warm bowls. Serve fresh bread alongside it. It keeps for a day refrigerated.

Technique

• Flour is browned in butter to a nut brown roux before anything else, and that browned flour both thickens the drink and gives it the toasted flavour that defines it; pale roux tastes floury and dark roux tastes burnt, so stop while it still smells sweet and nutty.
• The tea is salted rather than sweetened, which surprises people expecting sweet tea; salted milk tea runs across Central Asia and into Tibet and Mongolia, and it is a savoury drink by design that sits between a drink and a thin soup.
• The liquid goes into the roux a ladle at a time with hard whisking between each addition, exactly as for a sauce; adding it all at once gives lumps that will not disperse.

Substitutions

• Sheep tail fat stands in for butter and is used in the pastures.
• Whole milk is essential, since skimmed milk gives a thin watery drink.

Variations

• A knob of butter floated on the bowl or a spoonful of kaymak enriches it further.
• Some versions use very little tea and are almost entirely milk and roux.
• Black pepper is added in some households.

History

A herders’ breakfast drink of the high pastures, closer to a soup than to tea.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kuurma chai?

Kuurma chai is a drink from Kyrgyzstan: tea made with flour browned in butter, milk and salt, thick and savoury. A herders’ breakfast drink of the high pastures, closer to a soup than to tea.

How long does Kuurma chai take to make?

Kuurma chai takes 10 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kuurma chai?

Yes, within limits. Sheep tail fat stands in for butter and is used in the pastures. Whole milk is essential, since skimmed milk gives a thin watery drink.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kuurma chai?

Melt the butter in a heavy pot. Use a wide pot with a thick base. Let it melt over a medium heat. Sprinkle the flour into the melted butter. Stir it in with a wooden spoon. It forms a thick paste at once. Cook it over a medium low heat. Stir it constantly the whole time. Give it a good six or seven minutes. Flour in fat catches and burns very fast. It must be thrown away if it burns.