73 replies to this topic

[bong]

bong, it is westernized bengalis, especially ones from calcutta that drink their tea in the brewed english style. people from other classes tend to boil their tea, milk and sugar (with or without cardamom etc.) in a manner that would make your average english tea snob cough up their buttered scones.

I am sorry, mongo, but I have to disagree with you here.
I grew up in Calcutta, yes -- but certainly not in a "westernized" environment. I was brought up in your average bengali middle class household, and all the tea we drank was made this way:
* Boil water, remove from heat
* Add black tea leaves (or mixture of leaves and powder, which is cheaper), about 1 heaped teaspoon per cup of finished tea, to hot water.
* Let tea leaves seep for 2-3 minutes in hot water.
* Strain tea, pour into cup. Add about 1tsp-1tbsp milk, and some sugar.

Sometimes, at home, expecially when we would have a cold or cough, my mom would add some ginger or sometimes cardamom when brewing the tea -- that's the closest we got to a "masala" tea.

I have travelled around Southern West Bengal a bit as well, and most all the tea you find there, including the roadside tea stalls are made this way. Well, not exactly this way, but some variation thereof. For example the cheap roadside stalls use cheap quality tea leaves, they dont "brew" their tea in hot water, but they boil their tea (this makes the tea more "strong" so you can get more cups by using less tea leaves. This also makes the tea taste bitter...) in water, they keep reheating the tea. Sometimes they would add the milk directly to the boiling water instead of adding at the etc. etc.

But in general, there is never any addition of spices. Also, the tea is brewed in water, not in milk.

[ Also in those days, the cheap stalls would serve you the tea in earthen "bhand"s. Bhands are, unfortunately, becoming quite extinct with the advent of cheap disposable plastic cups.]

Are there excceptions? Of course there are. But my point is, in general, the tea you find in Bengal is far from the "Masala" tea that you find in other parts of India, especially in the north-western states.

For instance, in Gujarat, the tea you find is brewed not in hot water, but in boiling milk.
One time (I am talking in the mid-eighties) I lived in Surat for a few months and noticed a very strange thing:

Over there, when you order a "full" cup of tea from a roadside stall, they would serve the tea to you in a cup and a saucer, and the tea would be overflowing out of the cup into the saucer. You are expected to sip from the saucer, pour tea from the cup onto the saucer, and then sip from the saucer...

If you order a "half" cup instead, you would be served the same thing, except this time the tea won't be overflowing into the saucer. And of course the "half" tea costs only half as much. Since I was a poor student at that time, I quickly learnt only to order this "half" tea....

[mongo_jones]

bong,

so, you're saying the tea sold in railway stations in bengal is brewed and not boiled with milk and sugar as it is in, say, punjab? and while it may not be as masaledar as masala chai in other parts of india i submit that the addition of ginger and cardamom puts it in the spice tea category, rather than that of the classic english brew.

mongo

[bong]

bong,
so, you're saying the tea sold in railway stations in bengal is brewed and not boiled with milk and sugar as it is in, say, punjab? and while it may not be as masaledar as masala chai in other parts of india i submit that the addition of ginger and cardamom puts it in the spice tea category, rather than that of the classic english brew.

All I am saying is that in Bengal, most of the tea that you will find is brewed (or boiled, depending on the "cheapness" of the place :> ) in water. Not in milk. Well maybe sometimes with a little bit of milk. But the bulk of it is water.

And I am also saying is that you won't usually find spices of any kind in the tea as well.

[BBhasin]

And I am also saying is that you won't usually find spices of any kind in the tea as well.

Usually not, but numerous chaiwallas did tea with ginger or cardamon.
Slightly off the topic, but in Delhi near the Pusa campus area during the examination days a couple of chaiwallas stayed open the whole night serving students needing a little refreshment while burning the midnight oil. They Had different flavors, masalla, ginger, mint and even chocolate where they added a spoonfull of cadburys drinking chocolate powder to the aleady sweet tea. Many a night I have spent with my buddies sitting on the pavement on a cold winter night, sharing a charminar and sipping the wonderfully hot and sweet chai, while my folks thought I was studying so hard with my friend.

[hitchmeer]

I remember first tasting Chai at an Afghani restaurant - Khyber Pass - in St. Paul, MN. When I asked the owner for the recipe, he smiled and walked away from me, so I decided to experiment with it myself. I only can give approximate amounts, as I generally eyeball it. The charm of this recipe, I think is in it's simplicity. I'd started by adding all sorts of spices to the tea, then gradually removed them one by one until I had the flavor I wanted.

I begin by boiling some water in a saucepan (maybe 2 cups) into which I put several slices of fresh ginger that I've cut from a 1 to 1 1/2 inch knob as well as the seeds of seven or eight green cardamom pods (I may very lightly bruise or crush the seeds in a mortar and pestle). When the water boils, I add four tea bags of a stong black tea (although I've used Assam as well) or 4-5 heaping teaspoons of loose tea. I turn down the heat and let the tea steep (I generally try to add enough tea to basically make a very strong concentrate). Once the tea has fully steeped and the liquid is rich and dark, I add whole milk (enough to color the liquid a creamy caramel color, or to taste) and turn up the heat slightly to heat the now luke-warm liquid. I generally heat it to a light simmer, making sure not to let it boil. Then I add sugar to taste.

The total lack of cinnamon is what I enjoy most about this recipe, and I find that it's just like the chai I'd tasted at Khyber Pass.

Matthew in Minnesota

[easyguru]

Here is a version of Masal tea which is common in many Maharashtrian families.
Gavati Chaha ( lemon grass) 2 leaves
Cardamom 2 crushed
sunth (dried ginger) 1 tsp
Tea 2 tsp
Sugar as per taste
water 1 cup
whole milk 1 cup

Heat the water, tea, sunth, gavati chaha, cardamom, sugar together in covered pot till it comes to boil. Add milk and again heat till it comes to boil.
The sunth can be replaced with ginger.

[Monica Bhide]

Here is a version of Masal tea which is common in many Maharashtrian families.
Gavati Chaha ( lemon grass) 2 leaves
Cardamom 2 crushed
sunth (dried ginger) 1 tsp
Tea 2 tsp
Sugar as per taste
water 1 cup
whole milk 1 cup

Heat the water, tea, sunth, gavati chaha, cardamom, sugar together in covered pot till it comes to boil. Add milk and again heat till it comes to boil.
The sunth can be replaced with ginger.

HI easyguru -- how interesting. I have not heard of this before. i will be sure to ask my mother inlaw- I am married to a Maharastrian. BTW -- tell me more about lemon grass here -- are you talking about the Thai lemongrass or somethign completely different??

[easyguru]

Gavati Chaha looks like the thai lemon grass but it is much more aromatic( they are essentialy same but there is a slight hint of ginger taste to the Indian one). In many families and even in ours when we were growing up everyone use to plant the gavati chaha in a pot. So that it was fresh. There is some seasonality to it so most families would dry the leaves and store for later use.

Edited by easyguru, 12 November 2003 - 12:41 PM.

[Monica Bhide]

Gavati Chaha looks like the thai lemon grass but it is much more aromatic. In many families and even in ours when we were growing up everyone use to plant the gavati chaha in a pot. So that it was fresh. There is some seasonality to it so most families would dry the leaves and store for later use.

Sounds quite divine. I am headed to Mumbai next week and I will be sure to pick some up to try it. thanks for this information

[easyguru]

If you go to any big vegetable market in Mumbai like Dadar market you will find many vendors selling gavati chaha leaves. It comes in a nicely tied bundle.

[Monica Bhide]

If you go to any big vegetable market in Mumbai like Dadar market you will find many vendors selling gavati chaha leaves. It comes in a nicely tied bundle.

We will be very close to Dadar -- i will even take pics!! thanks

[BBhasin]

Some one on another site's forum recently enquired about Chocolate Chai.
Growing up in Delhi I came accross this only once, where a local 'dhabba' in Patel Nagar woould add some cadbury's milk chocolate powder to the tea after he has brewed ( cooked) it. Tasted quite nice like .. Mocha Chai ? I also learnt that Trader Joe's, in the US sells a Chocolate Chai mix, though I havn't tried it yet.
Can all you wonderful people out there tell me if you came across this in India?
Maybe Vikram can research this, perhaps he already has.
Bhasin

[Suzanne F]

This will probably make everyone here , but I have seen -- and, I will admit, bought -- "Masala Tea Bags" here in NYC, under the Tea India brand, packed by a company in Moorestown, New Jersey. They contain black tea, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, clove, and "natural flavors." The directions call for brewing, as any other tea bags, and specfically say:

CAUTION
It is not recommended to boil tea bags. Water must be at boiling temperature to brew tea. Sun Tea is not recommended.

Having no background in Indian tea, I cannot tell you how "authentic" they are. But they do make a very nice hot beverage. (I add milk and sugar after the tea has been brewed, as I do with other black teas.)

[Rushina]

I just had to jump in on this one!!!

(Incidentaly, yes I have just come on board and I love being here!)

I have grown up with Masalla chai. It was the first thing I learned to cook, and for a long time after I learned it I proudly made endless cups of "perfect" tea for anyone who wanted it.

I then got married, I do not make masalla tea now, I prefer a spiced version of english tea which has resulted from an amalgamation of what my husband likes and what I do.

I crush ginger and bruise a few mint leaves into the water, I add the sugar and let it come to a boil (I always put in a bit more water than I need so that it can boil for a bit). I then turn of the flame and put in the tea leaves which are a blend of 2/3 Green Label and 1/3 Taj Mahal. This is from my husbands side because one of those is supposed to impart flavour and the other color. I forget which is which at the moment. I dont boil the tea leaves beacause I find they get a slightly bitter flavour then. Once the tea leaves have steeped and imparted the color, I add a smidgen of milk. The tea has a nice color to it but it is translucent and would never form a skin. Strain and serve. (We find a couple of Glucose buistcuits go well with this too.)

I do still remember the way masalla chai was made in my mother house, and the important day when my mother taught me how to make tea. It was 50/50 milk and water, chai masalla and crushed cardamom and sugar (I never liked cardamom personally). Bring everything to a boil. Just when it is about to boil add the tea leaves. Once it has boiled lower the flame and let it simmer, bring to boil again simmer agai, at this point the tea rises to the rim of the vessel. this is when you use the pakkad to take the vessel of the fire, let it settle bring it bck over the flame let it rise take it away and bring it back. Switch off the gas, strain and serve. (One of my favourits snacks has lways been Theplas, Chunda and hot masalla chai. Theplas are a kind of leavened roti that has methi and some other stuff added to it (can elaborate if anyone wishes). Chunda has been described elswhere on this website but is basically grated mango pickle tht is spiced and sun cooked in a sugar syrup. )

By far the best the I have had and cannot duplicate is the one made by the maid that works at my moms house.

Our Chai Masalla
Equal parts Pepper, Mace, Cinnamon and saunth (dried Ginger) ground to a powder. We make enough to last couple of weeks at a time.

Rushina

[Monica Bhide]

Rushina -- what a nice post. Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to hearing more from you!

[Rushina]

Thank you Monica

Youre welcome to come hve a cuppa of either version the next time you are in Bombay
Rushina

Edited by Rushina, 16 January 2004 - 01:49 PM.

[anil]

Rushina: Welcome to the group I'm fascinated by folks who still stick to calling our city as Bombay - Over the decades as I visited BOM, I've noticed old friends calling them selves Mumbaikars from Bombaiites -- That's what I called 'meslelf'

[anil]

About two decades+ (Gee I'm really 'dateing meself') ago, in my teenage 'young youth; I did cover most states (then 21-22 ??) and had chai in the road-side dhabas, as well as the nukkadh-style, outside-the-compound chai-ki-dookan (tea-stall). The theme of all masala chai's was a variatiion of thulsi(mint),elichi(cardamom),adrakh(ginger) and then the shop's own special ingredient (mostly a pinch of cadbury powder,kaali-elichi,loung, etc).... That was masala-chai. Each tea shall had their own take on it

I stopped drinking tea when I could not find loose tea easily and inexpensively when I moved to Cambridge -- I moved to Coffee. Now I carry my own from UWS when I make my annual visit home

Edited by anil, 16 January 2004 - 09:04 PM.

[BBhasin]

UREKA !JUST LIKE HOME

just returned from a short visit to delhi and the Chai there was wonderful. I have not been able to replicate that exact same taste and body but this time I think I hit it.
Half and Half instead of milk, you dont need to add as much as you would add milk but it makes the chai come close to ' back home'. Perhaps because its the buffalo milk which is 'heavier' that we use in Delhi, the Vit D or the low fat stuff that we use here does't do it.
See if it works for you.

[Rushina]

I am not into the rights or wrongs or whys or wherefores, i feel bombayite or bambaiya... Does that make sense?

Rushina

[Monica Bhide]

So how do you make your tea?? Why am I asking?? --The Homecoming

I would love to hear your stories on Chai Time!

[Milagai]

Well, what got me through exam nights in Delhi University
was the wonderful Khada Chammach (standing spoon)
masala chai from the thela-vaalas outside the hostel walls.
They also sold wonderful bun-andas and parathas.
We had dragged out a broken old table to set against
the wall, to stand on and conduct our transactions over
the wall, after the gates were locked at night (curfew ~ 8 pm).

The best masala chai:
boil everything: bad quality tea leaves, milk, and sugar
thoroughly for a long time. In fact, go right ahead and stew it.
Otherwise the spoon would not stand upright in it :)

Throw in the masala early in the process:
Smashed green cardamom (pods and all)
slices of fresh ginger
coarsely smashed peppercorns.
a small pinch of haldi if you have a cold.
(Actually I found the whole concoction very medicinal
and soothing when I had a cough / cold - substitute
honey for the sugar for best anti-cough effect).

Serve in little disposable clay "kulhad" cups.
Adds that earthy fragrance......
Biodegradable and employs otherwise marginalized
"sons of the soil"......

Nothing beats this IMHO. Until recently I'd never heard
of putting cinnamon, fennel, etc in masala chai

Milagai

[Majra]

Hi, I'm a brand newbie. This is how I make chai:

Boil together 6 cups water, 2 cups milk, 2 slices fresh ginger, 1 cinnamon stick, 6 green cardamom, 6 cloves, and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Simmer 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover the pot, and let spices steep a bit. Add tea (I like PG Tips) and return to boil. Cover and simmer 5 minutes more. Strain and serve.

I love the rich flavor of the twice boiled milk.

In winter, I add black peppercorns and bay leaves and perhaps fennel seeds to the masala.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Thanks for the article, Monica. Always nice to see other people's takes on older parental types showing love and care with food, as well as a facet of what it means to hold onto people who are important to you.

Now I need to figure out who I should make chai for... My friends and chosen family, they all don't like it and are either unapologetic coffee drinkers, or in the case of my partner, just can't stand tea with anything else added except water. Hmph. On the other hand, I could sip it all day while munching on savory spicy snacks.

Pat

[Vikram]

The chai thread is probably not the right place to mention this, but I've recently started making sensational coffee in the thick, Turkish style, using palm jaggery. This is a dark, complex tasting product and it goes perfectly with strong coffee,

Vikram

[Yasmin]

Most Parsis drink their tea the English way, hot water poured in a kettle with loose tea and a couple of (leelee chai stalks - lemon grass), almost all my friends and relatives have it growing in pots in their gardens, whenever we had tea someone would go out and grab some fresh "Leelee Chai" literal translation green tea and sometimes we even added fresh mint, I have several friends in the USA who grow it in their gardens or in colder climates in their houses but it just doesn't do that well. Milk and sugar are added after you pour the tea in your cup, some people add sweetened condensed milk or half and half for a richer tasting tea. For some reason the taste just isn't the same here as it is back home. Every time I visit I just can't wait to have my first cup of tea and miss it terribly when I come back

Edited by Yasmin, 26 April 2004 - 04:34 PM.

[Monica Bhide]

Yasmin - Welcome to the Indian forum. I hope that you will post much more!

[Sam Salmon]

For a non-traditional Chai try using Maple Syrup as a sweetener-not a lot.
The mid-weight syrup adds a dimension of smoothness and a fullness to any Masala/Tea combo-exquisite!

[BBhasin]

For a non-traditional Chai try using Maple Syrup as a sweetener-not a lot.
The mid-weight syrup adds a dimension of smoothness and a fullness to any Masala/Tea combo-exquisite!

most of the 'chai' touted by non Indian vendors in the US, coffee shops etc list honey as the sweetner, perhaps for the same reason.

[Sonzy]

Though the thread has been very old, here is my version of the Masala Chai.
The following spices , I believe, are very essential - Put everything except Ground Black pepper in the very beginning and boil it. Ofcourse this is not something you can make every day but if you make a blend of all these spices and keep them ready, you would not need to add tea leaves. So the Masala Chai I suggest is actually a Chai from Masalas and is caffeine-free.

a) Ginger
b) Black Peppercorns, coarsely ground, not very fine
c) Fennel Seeds
d) Cardamom Pods
e) Cinnamon
f) Crushed or powdered Mulethi (very little - a pinch) - called sweetwood or Glycyrrhiza Glabra
g) Agya Ghas or Indian lemon Grass - contains a volatile oil for flavor.
h) Wild Violet flowers (Viola Odorata)
i) Nutgrass (Cyperus Rotundus Tubers)
j) Black Cloves
k) Green Tea (Haril Chay) - which is beneficial
l) Kesar - Saffron to bring warmth
m) Arjuna Chhal (Terminalia arjuna bark - good for the heart)

Instead of milk, you can use condensed milk for extra flavor. Thats what they do it here in Dubai. Instead of sugar, try Jaggery. You will love it. Jaggery should not be dark brown or crystallised.

Disclosure : We retail the above blend on one of our sites as a medicinal tea but I use it here for pleasure.

Regards, Sonzy.