Shaah cadays

Ingredients

The tea

• 4 teaspoonsblack tea
• a strong loose leaf
• 500 mlwater

The spices

• 8green cardamom pods
• crushed
• 1 stickcinnamon
• 6cloves
• 2cm fresh ginger
• sliced, optional

The milk

• 500 mlwhole milk
• or evaporated milk
• thinned with water

To sweeten

• sugar, generously
• to taste
• added to the pot

Directions

1. Use a pot larger than seems needed. Lift it off the heat as it rises. Press each one with a knife flat. The pod should crack right open. Adjust it before you start brewing. Crush the cardamom pods lightly.
2. Press each pod with a knife flat. The pod should crack right open. Slice the fresh ginger thinly. Slice it rather than grating it.
3. Put all the water into a large pot. Add all the crushed spices to it. Boil the spices before the tea. They need longer to release flavour. Add the tea leaves to the pot.
4. Boil the tea for about three minutes. Three minutes gives real strength. Pour all the milk into the pot. Do not leave it for a single moment.
5. Lift the pot right off as it rises. Return it to the heat afterward. Let it rise up again and repeat. Stir all the sugar into the pot. Add it while it is still boiling. Taste it and adjust before straining. It should be very clearly sweet.
6. Strain the tea through a fine strainer. Strain it genuinely thoroughly. Pour it from a height into the cup.
7. Pour it carefully from a height. Do not ever do it over anyone. Pour it into small glasses or cups. Small servings keep it genuinely hot. Make it fresh every single time.

Technique

• Milky tea boils over in seconds, rising fast up the sides before you can react — use a pot larger than seems needed and watch it constantly once the milk is in. Lift it off the heat as it rises, let the foam collapse and return it, three times traditionally: each rise builds strength and body and slightly thickens the tea, so it is a genuine technique rather than only a way to avoid spills.
• Boil the spices five minutes before the tea goes in, since they need longer to release their flavour, and boil the tea only about three minutes — longer makes it bitter and tannic.
• Pour it from a height into the cup to aerate and cool it slightly, but do it over a tray or sink and never over anyone, since boiling milky tea scalds badly.

Substitutions

• Evaporated milk thinned with water stands in for fresh milk; fresh ginger sliced rather than grated is a common addition, since grated ginger clouds the pot where slices stay behind in the strainer.
• Crush the cardamom pods just enough to crack them open with the flat of a knife rather than grinding them to powder, since the whole pod goes into the pot — ground cardamom clouds the tea, and uncrushed pods release little.

Variations

• Use a robust cheap black tea rather than a delicate one, which disappears entirely: four teaspoons to five hundred millilitres is a genuinely strong brew and is meant to be, since the milk and sugar soften it.
• The sugar goes into the pot rather than being added at the table, and the sweetness is part of the drink rather than an optional addition — ask how sweet people want it and adjust before brewing.
• Somali teashops are social institutions rather than only cafés: people gather through the day and news and business are discussed there, which is a genuinely important role. Tea is offered to every visitor before any business, as a real social obligation.

History

Black tea boiled with milk, cardamom and cinnamon, drunk in teashops that function as the Somali public square.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shaah cadays?

Shaah cadays is a drink from Somalia: milky spiced tea with cardamom and cloves. Black tea boiled with milk, cardamom and cinnamon, drunk in teashops that function as the Somali public square.

How long does Shaah cadays take to make?

Shaah cadays takes 5 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Shaah cadays?

Yes, within limits. Evaporated milk thinned with water stands in for fresh milk; fresh ginger sliced rather than grated is a common addition, since grated ginger clouds the pot where slices stay behind in the strainer. Crush the cardamom pods just enough to crack them open with the flat of a knife rather than grinding them to powder, since the whole pod goes into the pot — ground cardamom clouds the tea, and uncrushed pods release little.

What is the most important thing to get right in Shaah cadays?

Press each pod with a knife flat. The pod should crack right open. Slice the fresh ginger thinly. Slice it rather than grating it.