More than just tea...

Enter the world of culinary delights where as a thoroughbred Bangladeshi, one would think we ace at pickling and know our achars well but wait… there is something called Tea pickle from across the Eastern borders in Myanmar! Now that the shock might have sunk in, do remind yourself that tea is held in high  reverence, whether it is through the age old custom of tea drinking ceremonies in the East or to the fact that a tea stall in any Bangladeshi village is the best place to make friends. I take you down a walk through the many ways we can incorporate this favourite beverage of ours into food that is fragrant and adds that touch of the extraordinary to your dinner table. 

Bon appetit and eat healthy dear readers!  

TULSI TEA SHISH KEBAB
Tulsi is really an Indian form of the basil leaf we fondly use in Mediterranean cuisines and this fragrant tea packs meat dishes with a unique flavour.

Ingredients:
1 cup water and 4 tea bags Tulsi Tea 
½ kg beef, cut into small shish kebab sized cubes  
1 cup lemon juice and 2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp garlic paste and 1 tsp ginger paste
½ tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper
2 red onions, blended into a paste
1 red or yellow capsicum, cut into wedges 
1 sprig of coriander, chopped
5-6 green chillies, ground into a paste. 
4-5 tbsp olive oil

Method: 
Boil water and dip the 4 tea bags in a mug for 5 minutes. Squeeze and remove tea bags. Mix all the ingredients and stir in the tea then mix again. Immerse the beef pieces in this mix and marinate, covered tightly, for about 2 hours. You can then string them on skewers and place some extra onion rings in between the capsicum and beef pieces then barbeque it. Or you can alternately put the entire mixture in a foil wrap and stick it into an oven and cook for up to 45 minutes until the beef is tender and cooked. 

Serving:
Serve it with 'naan' and a mint-yoghurt chutney with some dried basil sprinkled on top to get all those flavours playing their magic on you. Or go for a pita bread with a sprinkling of some dill that has been dipped in orange tea and left overnight.

JASMINE TEA SMEARED CHICKEN 
Ingredients: 
¾ cup jasmine tea leaves. Any brand will do but make sure they are very fragrant
1 tbsp dried basil leaves
1 tsp rosemary 
Salt and pepper
½ chicken fillets, which are halved into 2 pieces
¾ cup lemon juice 
1 red onion ground into a paste
1 tsp garlic paste
3-4 tbsp olive oil

Method:
Boil the jasmine tea for about 2-3 minutes then strain it and mix the wet tea leaves with the rest of the ingredients. Smear the chicken with this mix and marinate for 1 hour under a tight wrap, then place it in a foil and bake in a water bath for about half hour. Or you can place them in a foil, wrap it up and stick them into an oven which has been heated for 10 minutes at 200˚C then lower the oven to 180˚C and cook the chicken on this heat for about 30 minutes. Keep checking with a fork to see that the chicken is cooked.  You might want to alternate and cook it over any remaining oil from the mixture over a low heated pan until it is cooked. This will give a slightly different texture as opposed to when baked.

Serving:
Serve it with plain rice, some sautéed vegetables on the side and a nutty salad, for that extra bang to the taste buds! 

TEA FLAVOURED YOGHURT WITH CARAMELISED NUTS
In the land of mishti doi we are all too familiar with flavoured yoghurt but tea flavored yoghurt? Well let's give this one a try, shall we?

Ingredients: 
1 kg milk. If you are one of the lucky few to have access to cow milk then go for it or use a good powder milk, dilute it to about 1 kg and boil it.
1 tbsp cardamoms
1 medium stick cinnamon 
4 tbsp normal, black tea (any blend/brand for black tea will do)
2 tulsi tea bags 
4 tbsp brown sugar. You might want to keep this sugar free and use honey on top later on.
1 tbsp culture yoghurt or use any good yoghurt you had as a culture 
Handful of walnuts and cashew nuts, caramelised in sugar for serving

Method:
Boil the milk, cardamom, cinnamon stick, tea and sugar for about 5 minutes or until it starts to thicken and a heavy layer of cream forms of on top. Remove from heat and cool it while the tulsi tea bags are dipped into it.

Cool it to be lukewarm to the touch but not cold. Smear a deep dish with the culture yoghurt and gently pour this milk into it. Store it in a dry warm place for up to 8 hours. Every time you check the yoghurt, do not toss it around too much as this can disturb the bacterial formation within. Once the yoghurt is set you can refrigerate it. The more you keep it out the more sour it gets. 

Serving:
Serve a dollop of yoghurt with caramelised walnuts or cashews sprinkled on top and enjoy this new form of mishti cha doi!

BURMESE PICKLED TEA SALAD 
Ingredients: 
100g green tea (Japanese green tea) 
250ml white vinegar
1 cup water
Overnight soaked then boiled chickpeas and white beans
1 bunch of spinach leaves 
1 cup fried peanuts
¼ cup roasted sesame
100g bean sprouts
1 cup glass noodles
70 ml peanut oil
1 tbsp fish sauce
80ml sesame oil
3 chopped garlic cloves, and 1 tbsp diced garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice

Method: 
Fermenting the tea leaves:
Place 250 ml vinegar, 100g green tea leaves and 250ml water in a saucepan over medium heat. Boil it once then simmer it on low heat for 30 minutes. Drain then rinse and discard any hard pieces. Squeeze out excess liquid. In a food processor, add the tea with sesame oil, peanut oil, fish sauce, chopped garlic cloves and lemon juice. Blend these till they are properly mixed. You might taste for tanginess/salt etc. This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 months.

Salad:
For the salad, sauté the spinach with 1 tbsp diced garlic in any oil. Fry the peanuts in a few drops of oil and dry roast the sesame. Boil the glass noodles as per instructions on the packet of whichever brand you buy until they are al dente or however you like them. The chickpeas and white beans can be alternated with any other beans. While boiling beans add a pinch of salt and pepper. Wash the bean sprouts and stir fry them for 10 seconds on medium heat. 

Serving: 
Add all the salad ingredients into a bowl with the pickled tea and keep tasting to ensure you get optimum flavours. Save any remaining oil and sauté any extra left over garlic in it and add it crispy on top! 

Health focus of tea:
Polyphenols in tea are what make it a good source of antioxidants as it helps keep away cardiovascular diseases, lower LDL cholesterol levels, help overcome heart conditions. However it's the catechins that are antioxidants as well as disease fighters that need to be seeped longer in tea. Remember to drink your black tea hot to get the best of its phenolic properties and your green and white tea at a slightly lower temperature like 85˚C instead of the 100˚C for black. 

Photo: Collected