South Indian Style Filter Coffee

I finally remembered to buy myself a South Indian coffee filter on my latest trip, so I can enjoy traditional style coffee at home.


Here I have disassembled all the individual parts so you can see it more clearly.


Sadly, I forgot to actually buy some South Indian coffee...luckily we had some (Peruvian) coffee beans that my Gran gave us over Christmas sat in the freezer. I ground them up as usual in the coffee grinder that I DON'T use for grinding spices.


The ground coffee goes in the top compartment of the coffee filter, where the little holes are - sorry the lighting isn't great in this picture! Then the little "umbrella" bit is held over the top and hot (just boiled) water is poured over. The "umbrella" is rested on top and the lid put on. The coffee is left to gently filter through.

Once you have your strong, fragrant decoction, the final bit is easy! Heat up enough milk for however many cups you are making in a small pan. I like to use whole milk. I also add my sugar at this point as it dissolves better, but some people like to add sugar to the individual cups. If I feel like it, a few cardamom pods get heated with the milk too. The milk is brought to a frothing boil and then I stir briefly so that the sugar dissolves.


To serve the coffee, I pour the coffee decocotion into individual steel tumblers (I prefer a small tumbler). Some people prefer to add the milk and then the coffee as it is easier to gauge the strength of the coffee that way, but I don't think it mixes as well.


To get a good froth on the coffee, pour the milk back and forth between a pan and a spare tumbler from as great a height as you dare. Then pour from a height into the decoction. Since you're going to fill the cup quite full, you should of course have one of those little stainless steel katoris to go with your tumbler! Enjoy.