Shaah Cadays (Somali Spiced Tea With Milk)

somalia tea ginger cardamom breakfast milk/cream

Hawa Hassan

4 servings

Source

Ingredients

1 (1-inch) piece ginger

2 (2-inch) pieces cinnamon stick

5 green cardamom pods

5 whole cloves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 cups cold water

3 tablespoons loose black tea (or 4 black tea bags)

3 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus more as needed

2 cups whole milk

Method

Crush the ginger with the bottom of a heavy pot or the blunt edge of a knife and set aside. Place the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and peppercorns in a mortar and crush with a pestle until coarsely ground (or crush on a countertop or on a cutting board with the bottom of a heavy pot). Transfer the spices to a medium saucepan set over medium heat and cook, stirring, until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ginger, water, tea, and sugar and increase the heat to high. Once bubbles form around the edge, immediately reduce the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the milk and let it cook for just 1 minute to warm the milk, then turn off the heat. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a teapot, pitcher, or straight into tea mugs. Serve immediately while hot and add more sugar to taste if you’d like.