Qehwa is the green tea of the Afghan and Pashtun table, poured after meals and for every visitor. Green tea is brewed with cracked cardamom, and in many Afghan homes a few threads of saffron and a sliver of cinnamon, then sweetened lightly with sugar or honey; the saffron turns it a pale orange. In Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani bazaar it is still drunk in qehwa khanas, from small cups on wooden charpoys, very often after a plate of chapli kebab. Every family makes it a little differently. Serve it with goash-e-feel or plain biscuits.
Zone: Silk Road Table
INGREDIENTS
- 1 litre water
- 3 tsp loose green tea
- 4 green cardamom pods (cracked)
- 4 threads of saffron
- 1 cm piece of cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp sugar or honey
METHOD
- Put the cardamom, cinnamon and sugar or honey in the water and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then take off the heat.
- Add the green tea and saffron, cover and leave to brew for 3 minutes.
- Strain into a teapot and serve in small cups.
NOTES
UK adaptation: Loose Chinese green tea such as gunpowder, from supermarkets or Asian grocers. Green cardamom pods and saffron from any supermarket. Pair it with chapli kebab, as Peshawar does. Everything else widely available.
US adaptation: Loose gunpowder green tea. Green cardamom and saffron from Patel Brothers or Kalustyan’s. Everything else widely available.
Cook’s note: Boil the spices first and add the tea off the heat. Green tea boiled hard turns bitter.
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