Ladakhi soup for the soul

I had read about Ladakhi tea (a mix of green tea, buffalo milk, butter and salt!) in a magazine, and hoped that I will have thousands of opportunities to taste it during our Manali - Leh road trip. But contrary to all logic, people just scoffed whenever I asked about it at cafes or tea stalls. I could not understand for the life of me why - and I guess the reason is that this potent mix is only drunk in traditional Ladakhi households. It was really a stroke of luck that we got invited into one such home, and I would have driven all the distance from Manali to Leh only to experience this! At Alchi monastery (a couple of hours drive from Leh), we stopped for a bite at a restaurant. My lovely mother-in-law, who had been here before, chatted up the owner and said she was disappointed that the last time she came she did not have the opportunity to see the old house adjacent to the restaurant. “But this is my family’s home,” he answered. Obviously, it was not opened to visitors. But to Gurtaj’s biggest embarrassment, my mom-in-law asked for “just a peek”. The owner thought about it calmly and nodded: “Visit the monastery and come back…” We did, and on the way back we were already thinking of ways to excuse our nosiness and get back on the road. However, as we reached, the owner said: “Please, come, my mother is making tea…” Extremely touched, we followed him into the house, as he showed us into the biggest kitchen I have ever seen. The giant room contained ceiling-high shelves lined with huge brass vessels and utensils; an enormous old style iron stove; a sitting corner with a low divan covered with Ladakhi carpets. Next to a window, a diminutive wrinkled lady, impeccably dressed in her Ladakhi colours, was vigorously beating something in a tall, hand-operated mixer. This is when I knew that I will finally taste Ladakhi tea!!!! And braced myself for the experience. My mother-in-law smartly declined, saying that she can’t have butter. But I was all too happy to be a guinea pig! The lady first steeped the leaves, then poured them in and out of the mixer, until the butter, salt and milk were well-blended. And she poured a steaming cup each. At the first sip, my taste buds were completely confused: was this soup? Or green tea? Or a hot milkshake. The mix of salty and tea flavour was truly unique. I could not even decide if I liked it or not, but the how, strange liquid flowing through my body definitely had an invigorating effect. I nodded in approval at our hosts. And decided to just think of it as soup. I had it to the last sip… The lady was really quiet, and just saw to us without fussing and making a conversation. It was quick, but elating, to be a complete stranger accepted into these people’s home, and being treated to a rare delicacy.