50% of my winter diet consists of endless cups of Kashmiri chai. Needless to say, it's the bomb. Fill up a pan with water - about 1 litre. Add a teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of tea leaves, a quarter teaspoon of meetha soda (sodium bicarbonate or baking soda) and star anise (optional. The first picture is a sample of what it looks like, the second one shows how much to use in this amount of liquid). Mix, bring it to a boil and then simmer on low heat until half the liquid has evaporated. Add cold water and fill to the brim then boil for 5 minutes. Take a small tub or big bowl, add about 2 glasses of cold water to it and pour the qehwa in it. Beat for 5-8 mins (watch video below). In another pan, add milk (generally, mom uses 2 cups of milk to 1 cup qehwa ratio) and any flavor/ seasoning you might like (cardamom, cinnamon, nuts, sugar, etc). Add the qehwa, mix and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and serve hot!