Green tea brewed with saffron, cardamom and cinnamon, sweetened and poured over slivered almonds.
What makes it kahwa
Green tea, not black.
Saffron, cardamom and cinnamon brewed in.
Almonds in the cup.
Where it comes from
Kashmir's tea of welcome, traditionally brewed in a brass samovar with a charcoal core and poured into small cups. Green tea is simmered with whole spice and a few threads of saffron, and each cup gets sugar or honey and a spoon of almonds.
It's the tea for guests and for after a wazwan. The everyday cup in the valley is something else: noon chai, a pink, salted tea with milk.
How it varies
Noon chai
Also called sheer chai: the valley's everyday pink tea, salted and made with milk — a relation rather than a version.