This week’s post look at the roots of what is quickly becoming a western obsession- chai tea. I had been tossing around the idea of doing a post on chai tea, when I discovered a wonderful place called World Market over my midterm break. If any of you have ever been in a World Market then you probably experienced the same sense of euphoria I did and when I found a traditional Masala Chai tea mix tucked into the wall of tea, well it seemed like fate.
The roots of chai tea are heavily steeped (pun so very much intended) in the culture of India. According to the blog chai pilgrimage, chai tea started out as an infusion prepared by grandmothers everywhere from a blend of plants and roots. Over time, or when the British East India Trading Company was established, tea was introduced into the recipe. As with much of history, this is only a theory, but in my mind it’s a theory that holds water.
For those of you who’ve never before been introduced to chai, don’t go into the experience expecting it to be anything like regular black or green tea. It’s not. The first word that comes to mind is spicy. Chai blends vary from region to region and company to company – much like I imagine each grandmother’s recipe would have varied – but they generally all include cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and pepper. The spices are mixed with an assam black tea and brewed in a mixture of water and milk, sweetened with sugar.
The first step in brewing a cup of chai tea is to boil two tablespoons of tea in one cup of water. Once the water is boiling pour in a cup of milk and reduce the heat until simmering. Once the mixture is simmering, add in a tablespoon ( or more, don’t be shy) of sugar. Dissolve the sugar and your tea is ready. You’ll notice in the pictures in the slideshow that the tea and bits of cloves and pepper float to the top. The best thing to do is pour the tea through a strainer to get rid of all those little bits. There’s nothing worse than biting into a chunk of black pepper.
Lots of people enjoy blending their own mixture of chai. You’ll be more likely to create a mixture is balanced more to your taste. Some people prefer their chai spicer than the blends you can find in stores and other people would rather have a higher proportion of black tea to spices. Plus, it’s fun to experiment with different combinations and you’ll know exactly what’s going into your tea. I’m not including a recipe for this because I’ve yet to make my own blend that is any better than something I could buy. This recipe from Teatime Magazine is a very good place to start.
Today, the taste of chai is taking the world by storm. There are a plethora of chai adaptations and chai-flavored recipes out there. I fully plan on exploring the different possibilities of chai once I finally perfect my own blend. Visit my chai Pinterest board for your own pinspiration.
Steeped in History 