Chai (tea)

[Episure]

I have a finicky friend who likes English style tea and not our kadak chai. Once we were served a masala chai with the works, he refused to have it saying that since it was like a sambar he needed Idlis to go with it.

Edited November 3, 2003 by Episure (log)

[susruta]

My husband knew the chairman of the Indian Tea Board at the time this campaign was launched. In any case, tea itself is a relatively new drink in India that was introduced by the British. I don't know whether much tea was drunk in the Northeast before then.

Incidentally, in Rajasthan they even boil chilies with the tea.

[bong]

I have a finicky friend who likes English style tea and not our kadak chai.

We Bengalis also generally don't like our tea spiced up with Masalas...

We like it with a little bit of milk and sugar...which is basically same as "English" style.

[mongo_jones]

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.

[eking]

for those who use black cardamon in their masala tea - would this be used with or without the pod?

[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 November 12, 2003 by easyguru (log)

[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 January 16, 2004 by Rushina (log)

[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 January 17, 2004 by anil (log)

[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