Drink
Butter tea
Butter tea, also known as Bho jha , cha süma (Tibetan: ཇ་སྲུབ་མ་, Wylie: ja srub ma, "churned tea", Mandarin Chinese: sūyóu chá (酥油茶), su ja (Tibetan: སུ་ཇ, Wylie: Suja, "churned tea") in Dzongkha, Cha Su-kan or "gur gur cha" in the Ladakhi language and Su Chya or Phe Chya in the Sherpa language, is a drink of the people in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, East Turkestan, Tibet and western regions of modern-day China and Central Asia. Traditionally, it is made from tea leaves, yak butter, water, and salt, although butter made from cow's milk is increasingly used, given its wider availability and lower cost.
The history of tea in Tibet dates back to the 7th century during the Tang dynasty. However, butter tea did not become popular in Tibet until about the 13th century, the time of the Phagmodrupa dynasty.
According to legend, a Chinese princess married a king of Tibet which later helped establish trade routes between China and Tibet. These trade routes brought tea into Tibet from China. Later, butter was added to the tea that was brought from China as butter is and was a staple in Tibetan cuisine.
