Afghan tea: green and black chai, sugar, nuql and how tea is offered

Photo: Afghanistan Matters from Brunssum, Netherlands · CC BY 2.0

Green or black

Wikipedia's article on Afghan cuisine says chai can be green or black and is drunk at all times, most of all soon after a meal. Helen Saberi, who wrote Afghan Food and Cookery, says the same: green or black.

On sugar the sources differ. Wikipedia says most people drink green tea with no sugar, and that some add cardamom, saffron or sugar. Saberi describes a sweet first cup (see below). Both can be true: it depends on the house and the occasion.

Milk tea is a separate drink. Wikipedia says sheer chai is drunk mostly in the morning and on special occasions. Saberi adds that tea is not usually drunk with milk in Afghanistan, except perhaps at breakfast.

Cardamom, sugar and the two cups

• Cardamom: green or white cardamom is common. Either the seeds of an opened pod are crushed and sprinkled over the tea, or a lightly crushed pod goes into the teapot before the boiling water.
• The first cup: often very sweet (chai shireen), followed by one without sugar (chai talkh). Saberi writes that the more sugar the first cup has, the more honour it shows the guest.
• Sugar lumps: qand, lumps or cubes of sugar, are dipped in the tea and held in the mouth while sipping.
• Ghur: a lump sugar made from sugarcane, served in winter because it is thought to warm the body.

Glasses, bowls and teapots

Saberi lists the vessels: small glasses (istakhan), small handleless porcelain bowls (piala), and in the cities Western-style cups. Sometimes each guest gets an individual teapot and pours as much or as little as they like.

Nuql and sweets with tea

Tea rarely comes alone. Wikipedia says tea is served with cakes, biscuits or pastries, and with dessert after a meal. Saberi names shirnee, sweets served to guests, and kulcha, biscuits that may be served in the afternoon.

Nuql (also written noql) is almonds, pistachios or chickpeas coated in sugar. Sugared almonds (nuql-e-badomi) are the most popular; the chickpea kind is nuql-e-nakhod. Wikipedia says tea and white sugared almonds are customary at Afghan festivals.

When a guest arrives

AFP reported in 2018 that guests are offered tea on entering homes and offices, and that it is served at any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner. The same report says tea reached Afghanistan along the Silk Road and calls Afghanistan one of the world's largest tea consumers per capita.

Saberi describes the welcome at home:

1. The guest sits in the place of honour at the head of the room, on cushions (tushak) with a pillow (bolesht) behind.
2. The host refills the glass or cup again and again.
3. To say you have had enough, turn the glass or cup upside down. Some hosts also give a small bowl for the dregs.

Qaymaq chai

For weddings and engagements Saberi describes qaymaq chai: green tea boiled for about five minutes, then bicarbonate of soda is added and the tea turns dark red. It is poured back and forth from a height between pans to aerate it, then milk, sugar and cardamom are added, and each cup is topped with qaymaq, a thick clotted cream. With milk it turns a purplish pink. Saberi calls the taste strong and rich.

For more on what Afghans eat with tea, see Afghan bread and Afghan winter foods.