Lebu Cha

Ingredients

The tea

• 4 teaspoonsstrong black tea
• a Bangladeshi or Assam leaf
• 800 mlwater
• 4 tablespoonssugar
• or to taste

To finish each glass

• 1/2lemon, juiced
• or a wedge, squeezed in
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of black salt
• 1green chilli, slit
• or a slice of chilli

Sometimes added

• a pinch of chaat masala
• a little tamarind pulp
• a slice of ginger
• mint leaves

To serve

• in small glasses
• at a roadside stall
• hot rather than cold

Directions

1. Salt sharpens everything and adds depth. Salt in tea surprises people considerably. Wash your hands after cutting chillies. Never touch your eyes afterwards. Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Add the black tea leaves to it.
2. Let it boil steadily throughout. Give it about five full minutes. Add the sugar to the boiling tea. Stir it until it dissolves completely. It also dissolves far more easily hot.
3. Pour it through a fine mesh sieve. Discard all of the spent leaves. Set out the small glass cups first. Squeeze lemon juice into each one. The hot tea is poured over it. Add a pinch of salt to each glass.
4. Add a pinch of black salt with it. Too much of either ruins the glass. Start with less than you expect. Pour the hot strained tea over. Fill the glass nearly to the top.
5. Stir it briefly with a small spoon. Judging the glass takes a taste. Adjust it all to your own taste.
6. Reduce the added black salt if you use it. Serving it is always done hot. Leave the chilli in the glass. It keeps infusing as it is drunk.
7. Make it fresh each and every time. The brewed tea keeps a few hours. Add the lemon and salt only at serving.

Technique

• Salt in tea surprises people, but it does not make the tea taste salty: it suppresses bitterness and lifts sweetness, which is a real and measurable effect and why a pinch goes into the glass. Black salt, kala namak, adds a distinctly sulphurous note on top of that.
• The lemon, salt and chilli go into the glass and the hot tea is poured over them, which mixes them as it pours and lets each glass be made to order; that is how the stalls work.
• The tea is boiled for five minutes rather than steeped, which makes it very strong and noticeably bitter; the lemon and sugar are what balance that, so shortening the boil loses the tea under everything else.

Substitutions

• Any strong Assam or CTC black tea works, since delicate leaf is lost entirely.
• Chaat masala contains its own black salt, so reduce the added salt if using it.

Variations

• A little tamarind pulp gives a deeper fruitier sourness alongside the lemon.
• Ginger or mint are added at some stalls.
• Srimangal is also famous for a layered tea of several densities stacked in one glass.

History

A Bangladeshi roadside tea-stall speciality, most famously brewed in Srimangal in the tea-growing north-east.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lebu Cha?

Lebu Cha is a drink from Bangladesh: strong black tea with lemon, salt and green chilli served in glasses. A Bangladeshi roadside tea-stall speciality, most famously brewed in Srimangal in the tea-growing north-east.

How long does Lebu Cha take to make?

Lebu Cha takes 5 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Lebu Cha?

Yes, within limits. Any strong Assam or CTC black tea works, since delicate leaf is lost entirely. Chaat masala contains its own black salt, so reduce the added salt if using it.

What is the most important thing to get right in Lebu Cha?

Salt sharpens everything and adds depth. Salt in tea surprises people considerably. Wash your hands after cutting chillies. Never touch your eyes afterwards. Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Add the black tea leaves to it.