Qatar – Mint Tea

When it came to selecting a country for Q in the Culinary journey across the globe , there was no confusion.Qatar was the obvious choice!

 Actually, during the planning period, I wanted to do Qambia, which is another name for Gambia in another language. I was sure that most of my friends, if not all, would be preparing something from Qatar and I wanted to do something different.I found a soup and a potato dish.I was so happy!

But last week when I got into the excitement of creating an International Recipe Index, it struck me that I would not have anything for the letter Q if I made Qambia as I would be listing it as Gambia.
 
So as I was telling you, Qatar was the choice. I looked up a lot of websites and blogs and found that most of the dishes were all meat based except a potato curry that sounded so similar to our Jeera aloo[cumin flavored potato curry], a rice dish that was very simple but had to be baked or slow cooked in a dum method and a couple of desserts .I wasn’t in a mood to make any thing of that sort and maybe my research a limited or what ever but I never found any thing to suit my theme and taste.

Then last evening around 4pm, I was sitting with Lil Angel and coaching her for her exams, I casually googled for Qatar beverages and two of them popped up in all the sites. One is an exotic saffron flavored coffee that actually does not have coffee in it and the other one is this mint tea!

I am out of saffron so the first one was ruled out.With no exact recipe, I was not sure how to make the first one and did not have a clear picture of how it should look!

Then another search later, after going through a series of articles and travelogues on Qatar and seeing a few pics[which lacked recipes], I deduced the method ,ingredients and had an idea of  how it would look.And with a fresh bunch of mint leaves that I got from the farmer’s market yesterday morning, I was so happy to use it in this recipe.

All this happened quickly,within half an hour. Then an hour later, Lil Angel and me enjoyed this tasty beverage…

I read that this tea aids digestion and is served at the end of a meal.Sometimes this or coffee with saffron and dates is served.What a tasty way to end a meal!!

I used:

Water- 2 cups
Tea leaves – 2 tablespoons
Mint leaves- a handful, lightly crushed
Honey to taste

Heat water in a vessel and add the tea leaves, mint and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Add honey to taste.

Serve hot with some dates on the side…

Or serve chilled ….

• Add more water if needed,if you feel the taste is too strong.
• Tastes best when served chilled

Bon Appetit…