Ladakh Tsampa Roasted Barley Butter Tea Altitude Survival Food

Roasted barley flour mixed with butter tea and yak butter into a dense sustaining dough — the ancient high-altitude survival food of Ladakh and Tibet eaten daily for thousands of years.

Ingredients

1 cup tsampa (roasted barley flour — available at Himalayan, Tibetan and health food stores)
1/2 cup strongly brewed black tea
1 tbsp yak butter or regular salted butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp whole milk
1 tbsp chhurpi (dried Ladakhi cheese — optional, crumbled finely)

Method

Prepare a simplified butter tea: mix 1/2 cup strong black tea with butter, salt and milk.
Blend or whisk vigorously until emulsified into a uniform, slightly frothy drink.
In a wide bowl place 1 cup tsampa (roasted barley flour).
Pour the butter tea over the tsampa gradually while mixing with your fingers — add just enough for the tsampa to come together into a cohesive, crumbly but mouldable dough.
Do not add all the liquid at once.
If using chhurpi, knead it into the mixture.
Shape into balls or a roll in the bowl itself.
Tsampa is eaten directly from the bowl — digging out pieces with the fingers and pressing into small balls to eat.
This is sustenance food at altitude — dense, filling and warming.