Malabar Lemon Tea (Two Layered)

A soothing, calming sweetened black tea Recipe from the Malabar region, served in the Magical Two Layers.

Malabar Lemon Tea (Two Layered)

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You will need a cloth tea strainer or connicle tea strainer for easy results. Also a regular steel strainer, and two-three transparent tea glasses or cups..

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Malabar Lemon Tea (Two Layered)

Author: Shana Shameer

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 2 mins Cook Time 1 min Total Time 3 mins

Servings: 2

Description

This Malabar Lemon Tea, is a visually striking (two-layer tea ). Lemon tea is very common after meals or as a nightcap in the Malabar region of India. It's characterized by two distinct layers: a layer of strong black tea at the top and a layer of sweetened, hot lemon water at the bottom. Mint leaves are added for a soothing sensation

Ingredients

Servings

• 4 Tbsp Fine tea dust (to steep a strong tea decoction)

• Boiled water (As needed)

• 1-2 tsp Course grain sugar (per cup)

• ¹⁄₂ tsp Fresh lemon juice (per cup)

• 4-6 leaves Fresh mint

Instructions

Video ON

1. Boil water in a kettle.
2. Add the 4 Tbsp of tea dust (fine tea powder) into the cloth strainer and place this in a small bowl.
3. Pour some of the boiled (hot) water into the tea strainer to moisten the tea dust well. Not too much around half a cup, or just enough to keep the tea strainer ( containing the tea dust) wet. (Refer Video).
4. Prepare the medium sized tea glasses ( for transparent presentation ):   Add 1 -2 tsp per cup/glass to the bottom of the cup.
5. Next, gently pour over about 1/2 cup boiled water over the sugar. (Make sure the water is boiling hot). The cup should be about 3/4 full. Stir the top layer of the water, without disturbing the sugar ( on the bottom ) completely. Some of it will stir through, but most of it should lay at the bottom. (This is why we need course grain sugar and not fine-grain so that it does not dissolve into the water too quickly) .
6. Add 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice into each glass. We are now ready to create the black tea layer over this clear/ lemon layer.
7. Make sure the water is still hot (work swiftly).  Now lift the strainer from the strongly steeped tea. Add a little more hot water if needed into the strainer to keep it very hot.
8. Now stir the top layer of the lemon water in the tea glass once more to create a whirlpool action and quickly start to drip the tea from the tea strainer over the water layer.
9. Make sure you drip from a reasonable height and not too close to the top of the glass. I like to do this by lifting the cloth strainer and tapping it over a regular steel tea trainer directly over the glass ( at a decent height ). This causes the tea to be dripped over the water layer without mixing through.
10. Keep dipping the soaked tea in the strainer into the strong tea decoction in the bowl to keep dripping the tea. Once a layer is formed, you don't need to be so careful. It will not mix through. Continue quickly till you have less than half a cup of dark layer over the clear layer. (Refer Video).
11. These measurements give a nice sweet and strong tea. You can stir the sugar layer from the bottom to adjust the sweetness to your liking. Add 2-3 leaves of fresh mint ( This is important- don't skip ).
12. Serve the tea quickly with a stirrer. Sometimes the sweetness can be tasted even if you haven't stirred the final product. If not, just stir and drink, after you have enjoyed the whole two-layer experience!

Note

• Only use coarse-grain sugar. This is so the sugar does not dissolve too quickly.
• Sugar is important for the layer to develop, if you add too little, you will not achieve the result.
• Make sure the tea decoction is very hot.
• Make sure the water layer and tea decoction are still very hot when creating the layer. Work quickly. It does not work if the water cools down. Also, you want to drink hot tea.
• Do not add too much lemon.
• Watch the video for a clearer picture.
• Malayalam video for Malabar Lemon Tea.
• Key Ingredients: Tea, Sugar, Water, Lemon.

Keywords: malabar lemon tea, two layered tea, two layer lemon tea, lemon tea