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Indian

Gur gur cha (Ladakhi butter tea)

Vegetarian

Ladakh's salted butter tea: strong black tea boiled down, then churned with butter, milk and salt into a smooth, savoury, warming drink.

Gur gur cha (Ladakhi butter tea) is an Indian hot drink, ready in about 17 minutes and made with black tea (brewed) and butter. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep
2 min
Cook
15 min
Total
17 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Calories
70

Ingredients

4 cups

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Boil the tea leaves in 700 ml water for 10 minutes until the brew is very dark and reduced to about 550 ml.

  2. Step 2

    Strain the tea, return it to the pan with the milk (opens in a new tab) and salt and bring back to a simmer.

    Liquid being strained through a sieve
    How it looks · Photo: Katerina Holmes on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Add the butter (opens in a new tab) and churn until it is fully emulsified and the tea looks creamy and opaque, about 1 minute with a stick blender (or use a tall jug and whisk hard).

    Food safety: Keep the blender head submerged; if using a jug blender with hot liquid, fill it no more than half and vent the lid.

    Eggs being whisked in a bowl
    How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Serve at once, re-churning if the butter (opens in a new tab) starts to separate.

    • 1 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Ladakh, India · Commonly attributedSalted butter tea is drunk across the Tibetan plateau and the Himalaya; gur gur cha is the Ladakhi name, imitating the sound of the wooden churn.Also popular in Nepal, BhutanMore food from India
Dish
Breakfast · Snack · Hot drinks
Cooking method
Boiled, Blended
Taste
salty, buttery, rich, savoury
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · Keto-style · Low-carb
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Everyday
Cook more with
Black tea (brewed) · Butter · Milk
Techniques
Boiling · Simmering · Wet grinding · Reduction · Emulsification

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom milk, butter

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

70 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 183 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 7%
  • Carbohydrate 13%
  • Fat 80%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy70 kcal38 kcal
Protein1.3 g0.7 g
Carbohydrate2.3 g1.2 g
Net carbohydrate2.3 g1.2 g
Sugars2 g1.1 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre0 g0 g
Fat6.3 g3.5 g
Saturated fat3.9 g2.1 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol17 mg9 mg
Sodium352 mg192 mg
Salt equivalent0.9 g0.5 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
103 mg
Calcium
45 mg
Iron
0 mg
Magnesium
8 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
61 µg
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
0.5 µg
Vitamin B12
0.2 µg
Folate (DFE)
9 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • In Ladakh it is often drunk with tsampa (roasted barley flour) stirred in or alongside.

Common mistakes

  • Stirring rather than churning, so the butter floats as an oily layer.

Serve with

  • Serve with khambir (Ladakhi bread) or roasted barley flour.

Storage

  • Drink fresh; the strained tea concentrate keeps 2 days in the fridge.

Reheating

  • Reheat gently and churn again before serving.

Variations

  • Suja (Bhutan): The Bhutanese salted butter tea.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Customise in Sip & Blend

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 2, 3

Less sweet, dairy-free, caffeine-free or for more people — the original stays as it is.

Customise in Sip & Blend

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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