How to Prepare Butter Tea (Suja)

Butter tea or locally termed as Suja is a well know tea for Bhutanese and also for Tibetans. It is served as the first item to the guest and the day start with a cup or two of butter tea in the morning. The procedure to prepare it is very simple.

1.       Boil water depending on the number of people to be served.
2.       Add tea leaves to give fantastic odour and also the texture.
1. The tea leaves are locally made from locally available materials. The tea leaves used here  is different from what we use for brewing sweet tea. These tea leaves are prepared out of tree leaves (a particular kind of tree leaves (locally known as tsi tsi raba shing) or sometimes even uses some parasitic plants (Locally known as Nyashing Jorma) that grow on very big trees. These leaves (or the whole parasitic plants) are chopped into small pieces and are boiled (half cook) with the help of clean ash water. The chopped leaves and ash water are kept on fire till it gives dark red colour. After that it is dried and is ready for use. Sometimes it can be molded in various shapes to be marketed.
3.  After having boiled the tea leaves till it gives the dark red color to the water, it is then transferred to the churner (A churning container made of bamboo usually).
4. Then we add a slice or two of butter depending on the amount of water and salt. The salt has to be very light and we can add later if it is very much light.
5. After that we churn for about 1-2 minutes or till we get a very good texture, a light brown texture. After that it is ready to serve. If the amount is less, even the blender can be used to churn without having to put into churner.

Benefits of Butter tea

1.       It contains butter, therefore boosts our energy.
2.       People in the village prefer butter tea because it gives lasting energy to work.
3.       It is very tasty and nutritious. It is cheap and the materials are readily available.
4.       It is more organic and no chemicals or preservatives nor any artificial flavors are used.
5.       In cold days and in higher altitudes, it gives our body a heat and keeps us warm.