After " IFTAR" a sip of Sheer chai or pink tea bring a lingering Smile on Your Face.

     

Take a sip of this Sheer chai or pink tea and you are sure to experience the great delicacy of taste which one can aspire to as it enlivens your senses with its velvety aroma and mild sweetness. The amazing Sheer Chai of Sabzibagh, Patna, is a real delicacy and a great stimulant for those who throng Shahid's tea stall after the iftar during the month of Ramzan. It is sure to bring a lingering smile on your face.

It takes five to six hours to prepare this pink-colour exotic tea through a special process. "After the iftar, hundreds throng my tea stall to sip Sheer chai sold for Rs 8 a cup. Sitting in groups, chatting at ease and holding steaming khos (cups), people enjoy the Sheer chai after their daylong fast or roza is over. With Eid drawing closer, the crowd swells for this pink tea," says Mohd Shahid.

"I start serving tea to customers after 6.30pm and my shop remains open till 3am. We have been selling Sheer chai for the last 30 years during the holy month of Ramzan and it is the oldest shop in the locality," added Shahid.

The tea is basically prepared by Shahid's father, Mohd Sadruddin, with special tea leaves brought from Kashmir. The leaves are mixed with milk and wide variety of dry fruits like pista (pistachio), kagzi badam (almonds), cashewnuts, raisins, anjeer, poppy seeds, green cardamom, black cardamoms, cinnamon sticks, dry dates, akhrot (walnut), bay leaves, pinch of baking soda etc.

The preparation begins soon after the shop opens at 10. A rich paste of dry fruits and 'garam masala' is prepared by pounding and grinding the spices. The paste is then mixed with milk and tea leaves for hours.

"Every Ramzan I look forward to sip this Sheer chai with my friends. I used to visit this stall with my abbu when I was barely five-year-old. Now when I have grown up and started my own venture, I still make it a point to come here every evening," said Mohd Rashid, a resident of Ramna Road.

"This Sheer chai is so refreshing that I often come from Hajipur and stay at my sister's house here only to satiate my taste bud. There are few more places where Sheer chai is sold but Shahid's tea has a unique taste. I also carry a flask with me and fill it with tea before going back home," said Anees Anjum.

For Aftab, the chai tastes very different from normal tea and even those who don't like tea, drink cups and cups of it. The colour and odour is also fascinating. "Every year, I come all the way from Siwan and stay at Patna at least for a week only to tickle my taste bud with this tea," added Aftab.

"Politicians and many other high-ups of the town also come here," said Sadruddin. "It's a connoisseur's tea and even a minor slip in procedure will raise the eyebrows of those who sip it on a regular basis," says Dr A Zaman.

source :TOI