Masala chai
Masala chai (/tʃaɪ/, lit. 'mixed-spice tea'; Urdu: مصالحہ چائے, Hindi: मसाला चाय), also known simply as Chai, is an Indian beverage popular in South Asia. Made by brewing black tea (usually CTC tea) in milk and water, chai is also usually sweetened with sugar. While some variants may also include the addition of aromatic herbs and spices, known colloquially as Masala chai, the most common preparation is unspiced.[2][3]
Masala chai served with biscuits | |
| Alternative names | Spiced tea |
|---|---|
| Type | Flavoured tea |
| Place of origin | India[1] |
| Associated cuisine | Indian |
| Main ingredients | Black tea, Milk, Spices, Sugar |
| |
The term chai originated from the Hindustani word chai, which was derived from the Chinese word for tea, cha . In English, this spiced tea is commonly referred to as masala chai,[4] or simply chai,[5] even though the term refers to tea in general in the original language.
Originating in India[1][6] the beverage has gained worldwide popularity, becoming a feature in many coffee and tea houses, with many using the term chai latte or chai tea latte for their version to indicate that it is made with steamed milk, much like that used to make a caffè latte but mixed with a spiced tea concentrate instead of espresso. By 1994, the term had gained currency on the U.S. coffeehouse scene.[7]
History
Tea plants have grown wild in the Assam region since antiquity, but historically, Indians viewed tea as a herbal medicine rather than as a recreational beverage.[8]
In the 1830s, the British East India Company became concerned about the Chinese monopoly on tea, which constituted most of its trade and supported the enormous consumption of tea in Great Britain around one pound (by weight) per person per year. British colonists had recently noticed the existence of the Assamese tea plants, and began to cultivate tea plantations locally. In 1870, over 90% of the tea consumed in Great Britain was still of Chinese origin, but by 1900, this had dropped to 10%, largely replaced by tea grown in India (50%) and Ceylon (33%), present-day Sri Lanka.[9]
However, consumption of black tea within India remained low until the promotional campaign by the Indian Tea Association in the early 20th century, which encouraged factories, mines, and textile mills to provide tea breaks for their workers. It also supported many independent chaiwalas throughout the growing railway system.[10]
The official promotion of tea was as served in the Indian mode, with small added amounts of milk and sugar. The Indian Tea Association initially disapproved of independent vendors' tendency to add spices and greatly increase the proportions of milk and sugar, thus reducing their usage (and thus purchase) of tea leaves per liquid volume. However, chai in its present form has now firmly established itself as a popular beverage.[11]
Ingredients
Tea
Black tea is typically used as base in most chai recipes. The most common type of black tea is Assam; however, a blend of different tea variations may be used.[12] Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri are the three most common types of tea used in chai in India.[13]
Spices
The traditional masala chai is a spiced beverage brewed with different proportions of warming spices. The spice mixture, called karha, uses a base of ground ginger and green cardamom pods. Other spices are usually added to this karha including one or more of cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, peppercorn, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom seeds, ginger root, honey, vanilla, and other spices.[14][15] In the Western world, using allspice, to either replace or complement the cinnamon and clove, is also common.
Traditionally, cardamom and ginger are the dominant notes, supplemented by other spices such as cloves, or black pepper; the latter two add a heat to the flavour and the utilization of cloves is more typical and popular throughout India. The traditional composition of spices often differs by climate and region in Southern and Southwestern Asia.
For example, in Western India, cloves and black pepper are expressly avoided, and lemongrass is also often included.[citation needed] The Kashmiri version of chai is brewed with green tea instead of black tea and has a more subtle blend of flavourings: almonds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and sometimes saffron. In Bhopal, typically, a pinch of salt is added.
Other possible ingredients include nutmeg, mace, black cardamom, chilli, coriander, rose flavouring (where rose petals are boiled along with the loose-leaf tea), or liquorice root. A small amount of cumin is also preferred by some people. A less common addition to the spice is lemon grass, giving the chai a unique, aromatic aroma and flavour.
Milk
Traditionally in India, water buffalo milk is used to make chai.[16][17] Masala chai is made by mixing one part milk with two to four parts water and heating the liquid to near boiling (or even full boiling). Some people like to use sweetened condensed milk in their masala chai to double as the sweetener. For those who prefer to drink chai without milk, the portion is replaced with water.
Sweetener
Plain white sugar, Demerara sugar, other brown sugars, palm or coconut sugars, syrup, or honey are used. Jaggery is also used as a sweetener, mostly in rural parts of India. While some prefer unsweetened chai, some sugar enhances the flavour of the spices.
Some recipes use up to three tablespoons of sugar in 3½ cups of chai. Sugar is typically added to suit the drinker.
Preparation
The simplest traditional method of preparing masala chai is through decoction, by actively simmering or boiling a mixture of milk and water with loose-leaf tea, sweeteners, and whole spices. Indian markets all over the world sell various brands of chai masala, (Hindi चाय मसाला [chāy masālā], "tea spice") for this purpose, though many households or tea vendors, known in India as chai wallahs,[18] blend their own. The solid tea and spice residues are strained off from masala chai before serving.
The method may vary according to taste or local custom; for example, some households may combine all of the ingredients at the start, bring the mixture to a boil, then immediately strain and serve; others may leave the mixture simmering for a longer time, or begin by bringing the tea leaves to a boil and only add the spices toward the end (or vice versa).
A common Maharashtrian practice for preparation of one cup of chai is to first combine one half cup of water with one-half cup of milk in a pot over heat. Sugar may be added at this point or after. Ginger is then grated into the mixture followed by adding a "tea masala". Although the ingredients may vary from region to region, "tea masala" typically consists of crushed ginger, crushed cardamom, lemongrass, cloves, and cinnamon.[19] The mixture is brought to a boil and 1 teaspoon of loose black tea[20] is added. The chai is immediately taken off the heat, covered, and allowed to sit for about 10 minutes to allow the black tea to infuse into the chai. The chai is then strained and served.
Consumption of tea in the Indian subcontinent
Masala chai is a very popular beverage in the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka). In Northeastern India and Bangladesh, however, masala chai is not the usual form; instead, tea with just milk and sugar is common and is called “cha”.
Small vendors (called chaiwalla in Hindi/cha-ola in Bengali) are found by the side of every highway, road and alley - often the only establishments that will be open through the night. They generally also sell tobacco and snacks. Many will deliver tea to people's places of business in a chaidaan, a wooden or metal frame carrier for cups.[21]
In the metropolitan city of Mumbai, roadside tea stalls serve smaller cups of tea at a lower budget which is referred to as 'cutting chai', the term 'cutting' referring to the halving of quantity contained in a full cup to reduce the cost of the cup of tea. Circa 2020, the cost of a 'cutting' cup of tea varies between ₹6 and ₹10 - a full cup costing ₹10 to ₹20.
Consumption beyond the Indian subcontinent
As the popularity of masala chai has spread around the world, its nature has changed in various ways beyond the somewhat redundant terminology noted above.
Masala chai is popular in East Africa and the Caribbean.[22][23] It is also quite popular in the GCC; but it's locally known as Karak Tea or Chai Karak (Arabic: شاي كرك, Urdu: کڑک چائے).[24]
In Western cultures
Many Western supermarkets offer teabags of chai which contain an assortment of ground chai spices and require steeping in hot water.
Some American supermarkets also carry bottles of "chai spice" alongside their dried herbs and other spices. Unlike Indian spice mixtures, the American ones are generally made from powdered spices (cassia tends to be the dominant flavour) and sometimes sugar; this mixture can be added last minute to an already-brewed cup of tea as straining off the solids is not needed.
In the West, to better simulate water buffalo milk, one may try using dry or powdered milk, along with the raw or turbinado sugar normally used in India. In addition, as milk consumption in all age groups in the West has started to decrease steadily over the last 50 years, substitutes such as oat and almond milk have emerged as an alternative to water buffalo milk as well.[25] One East-West fusion chai adds a small pinch of dark cocoa powder, indigenous to the Central Americas, to create hot chai-co-latte.
Cold chai
As an alternative to the hot tea format, several types of cold "chai" beverages have become popular in the United States. These range in complexity from a simple spiced iced tea without milk to a slush of spiced tea, ice, and milk (or nondairy creamer) mixed in a blender and topped with whipped cream.[26] It is essentially different from the original version of a hot beverage.
Components
Depending on the establishment, chai with added espresso is now called a "java chai," "red eye chai," "turbocharger," "chai charger," "tough guy chai," and the American's preferred "dirty chai," among others.[27][28] However, despite the common use in many localities to use the term "latte" as an abbreviation of "caffe latte" ("cafe latte"), the term "chai latte" does not generally imply the presence of coffee in the beverage; see the discussion of the terminology above (literally, latte is Italian for "milk").
See also
References
- ^ a b Sengupta, Sushmita. "History of Masala Chai: A Quick Dive Into The Origins of India's Favourite Drink". NDTV. NDTV. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ Banerjee, Snigdha. "The British ad propaganda & the journey from tea to chai". www.cityspidey.com. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ Dalal, Tarla. "Indian tea recipe homemade chai". www.tarladalal.com. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ "The History of Masala Chai (a.k.a. "Chai Tea")". Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Definition of CHAI". Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ . Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ Rosen, Diana. Chai: the Spice Tea of India. Pownal, Vermont: Storey, 1999.
- ^ M., Gilbert, Richard (1986). Caffeine, the most popular stimulant. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 24. ISBN 9780877547563. OCLC 12970317.
- ^ Chatterjee, Arup K. (18 August 2018). "How chai arrived in India 170 years ago". The Hindu.
- ^ Collingham, Lizzie. (2006). "Chai: The Great Tea Campaign". In Curry: A Tale of Cooks & Conquerors, pp 187-214. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517241-8.
- ^ "What Is Chai and How to Make It". Food & Wine. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ^ "Masala Chai Tea - History & How to Make It". TEALEAVES. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
- ^ "Karha: the Heart of Chai". Hanumanchai.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ^ What is Chai? 2015-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sara Perry (1 Aug 2001). The New Tea Book: A Guide to Black, Green, Herbal and Chai Teas. Chronicle Books. p. 40. ISBN 9780811830539.
- ^ Outside of India, such as in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, or other European, countries whole-fat cow's milk is usually used. Generally, the main part of masala chai is the masalas like Tulsi, Mulethi, Aswagandha, Tezpatta and other useful ingredients.[1]
- ^ "What is a chai wallah?". Chai Wallahs of India. 2013-04-20. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "Recipe for 5 Spice Tea | Tea". Tealicious. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- ^ "Masala Tea". www.teaboard.gov.in. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
- ^ "10 objects that define Indian design". 2018-07-20.
- ^ Munishi, Michael Oresto; Hanisch, Rachel; Mapunda, Oscar; Ndyetabura, Theonest; Ndaro, Arnold; Schüz, Joachim; Kibiki, Gibson; McCormack, Valerie (2015-08-06). "Africa's oesophageal cancer corridor: Do hot beverages contribute?". Cancer Causes & Control. 26 (10): 1477–1486. doi:10.1007/s10552-015-0646-9. ISSN 0957-5243. PMC 4838015. PMID 26245249.
- ^ Planet, Lonely; Fitzpatrick, Mary; Ham, Anthony; Holden, Trent; Starnes, Dean (2012-06-01). Lonely Planet East Africa. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781743213124.
- ^ "Chai Karak: The Popular Drink That's Rapidly Spreading in the Gulf". Khaleejisque. 2011-09-28.
- ^ Stewart, Hayden; Dong, Diansheng; Carlson, Andrea. "Why Are Americans Consuming Less Fluid Milk? A Look at Generational Differences in Intake Frequency" (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ . Starbucks.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
- ^ "What's a Dirty Chai?". The Spruce. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ^ Travis., Arndorfer (2006). The complete idiot's guide to coffee and tea. Hansen, Kristine. New York: Alpha Books. p. 120. ISBN 9781440626012. OCLC 489450263.
External links
- The Global Evolution of Chai 2018-06-04 at the Wayback Machine