Asia → United Arab Emirates → Dubai
🥤 DRINK

Karak Chai

Strong black tea boiled with evaporated milk, sugar, cardamom, and saffron, the UAE's beloved cardamom milk tea, sold at every cafeteria.
Emirati · easy · serves 4
prep 5 min · cook 12 min
~134 cal · 4g protein · 19g carbs · 5g fat · 0g fiber · 19g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
Cup of strong tan cardamom milk tea
AI-generated illustration
Karak chai is the everyday obsession of the United Arab Emirates, a strong, sweet, spiced milk tea that fuels the whole country from dawn to the small hours. Its name comes from the word for "strong", and it descends from the masala chai brought by South Asian workers, adopted and made thoroughly Emirati.
It is brewed hard: black tea boiled vigorously with evaporated milk, plenty of sugar, cracked , and often a thread of , until it turns a deep, uniform tan and the flavours concentrate. The boiling, not just steeping, is what gives it its body and intensity.
It is sold for a dirham or two from roadside cafeterias, corner shops, and drive-throughs, ordered by the cup and carried everywhere; a late-night karak run into the desert is a genuine Emirati pastime. Strong, sweet, and aromatic, karak is the national cup of the UAE.
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Make it yours

✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.

Ingredients

Serves 4
  • 3 tbsp strong black tea
  • 2.5 cups water
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 4 pods
  • a pinch
  • a handful , to serve

Instructions

  • 1
    Boil the water with the tea, cracked cardamom, and saffron for 3-4 minutes until very dark.
  • 2
    Pour in the evaporated milk and sugar and bring back to a rolling boil, watching it closely.
  • 3
    Let it boil up and settle two or three times to build strength and body.
  • 4
    Strain into small glass cups and serve piping hot, with dates alongside.
    ✎ Chef’s note
    Karak means strong, and it is meant to be drunk hot and intense from a small glass rather than a mug. Evaporated milk is what gives it the signature thickness, and it stays deliberately simple: cardamom and saffron only, not a masala spice list.
Emirati cafeteria tradition.

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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination

📍
Dubai. Dubai can start the day with balaleet, saffron vermicelli sweetened and topped with a thin savoury omelette. Emirati cooking rests on dried lime, bezar spice, rice with fish or lamb in machboos, and slow-cooked wheat and meat harees for Ramadan.
🗺️
United Arab Emirates. Emirati cuisine reflects desert and sea, spiced rice with meat or fish (machboos), slow-cooked harees, and dates. Bedouin traditions and Indian Ocean trade meet over cardamom, saffron, and dried lime.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.

More from United Arab Emirates

BalaleetSweet saffron-and-cardamom vermicelli topped with a thin savory omelette, the Gulf’s sweet-and-savory breakfast.
Emirati SalonaA tangy Emirati stew of meat or fish and vegetables in a spiced tomato-and-dried-lime broth.
Emirati ThareedA spiced meat-and-vegetable stew ladled over thin crisp regag bread, a comforting Emirati dish, especially in Ramadan.
Browse all United Arab Emirates recipes →

Good to know

Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.

Make it a United Arab Emirates meal

Emirati MachboosDinner
LuqaimatDessert

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Frequently asked questions

What is Karak Chai?

Strong black tea boiled with evaporated milk, sugar, cardamom, and saffron, the UAE's beloved cardamom milk tea, sold at every cafeteria.

Where does Karak Chai come from?

Karak Chai is an Emirati dish from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Can Karak Chai be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

This Karak Chai recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.

Is Karak Chai safe for people with food allergies?

Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.

How long does Karak Chai take to make?

About 17 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 12 minutes cooking), serving 4.

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