[1] Noon chai is traditionally made from green tea leaves, milk, salt and baking soda, and is usually cooked in a samavar.

It is then aerated by ladling out some of it and pouring it back into the pot to incorporate tiny air bubbles into it, a process that yields a froth and that may take hours to do by hand.

When alkaline baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is added to it, the tea takes on its deep red color (which then turns pink with milk).

Residents of Kashmir Valley adopted the practice from Ladakh, importing soda (called phul) from them and brick tea from Lhasa, then replacing yak butter with milk and cream to fit local tastes.

[1] Noon chai is popularly consumed numerous times per day in Kashmir, served with breads such as kulcha, girda, or tsochwor.