It's Chai time
8th December 2009
When cold weather hits a hot cup of tea is the ultimate winter warmer, but this year why not try the spicy blend of herbs added to traditional Indian chai for a extra heat boost?
It's the drink that unites India. Chai - a blend of black tea, creamy milk, sugar and spices - is the country's signature drink but it's also perfect for a dull December day in the UK. According to Michael Wright, Senior Blender at Twinings, “Chai is a particularly good tea for Brits to drink at this time of year. When it is bleak, wet and windy outside, the spices in chai are invigorating and warming.” The UK seems to have taken chai to heart this year - it's currently #1 at several tea sellers. It seems our taste for for exotic, spiced foods has spread to include this tasty tea! While all tea will refresh you (the very low levels of caffeine in tea help to recharge your batteries) chai's warm spices have a comforting whiff of a traditional Western Christmas about them too (think mulled wine but without the horrible hangover!) making it an ideal antidote to the Winter blues.
Sometimes called masala chai, chai simply translates as the Hindi for tea and was quickly adapted by English speakers into the slangword, char. Today chai and tea are thought of as two separate drinks with chai specifically meaning a highly spiced, sweet, milky brew. Michael Wright reveals that in India, “chai is enjoyed by the working man. It’s mixed with lots of milk and sugar and served on the side of the street in little earthenware pots, poured dramatically from big, metal tea pots".
Tea writer, trainer and consultant Jane Pettigrew first discovered chai in the 1980s as a language teacher working with Indian families in the UK. "Each time I visited a family at home, I was offered the most delicious chai made in the traditional way to welcome and warm me," Jane revealed. "When I travel in India today, I always make sure I buy a little earthenware cup of hot, sweet, milky chai from street vendors" also known as chai-wallahs.
The Indian Tea Association began promoting tea breaks for workers in the early part of the 20th century and encouraged workers in factories, mills and mines to take a chai-break. Around the same time the Association also began to support a network of chai-wallahs who sold the brew on trains and at stations over India's growing railway system. The hero of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire was a chai-wallah in a modern call centre and these tea-sellers still play an integral part in bringing tea and refreshment to workers across the country.
To recreate the Indian experience at home you can now buy ready-prepared chai tea-bags in supermarkets. Although established brands can be found in the tea aisle, check out the ethnic and specialty sections as these often include exotic and exported Indian tea brands. You can even get a convenient liquid chai concentrate to add to your regular choice of black tea! But to get the highly perfumed blend in your tea-bag, it's not just a case of mixing any black tea with some spice, as Michael Wright reveals. "Traditionally the spices are blended with an Indian tea such as Assam, however we blend our Chai especially for the Western palate and use Nilgiri - which is a much lighter tea than Assam." Nilgiri has the depth needed to counteract the strong spices but comes without excess tannins. Perfect!
Traditionally chai is brewed by boiling tea leaves over direct heat which, unlike the delicate steeping process we're used to, produces a stronger, more robust drink. The flavours and ritual of indigenous chai can sometimes be lost in translation so for British palates chai is best infused for between three and five minutes. Some experts suggest that while Indians sometimes boil the brew for 30minutes, chai can even be drunk without milk or sugar. It's good news that dairy-intolerant tea fans can still get a great spiced tea, while those counting calories can skip the sugar for a drink that simply lets the tea taste and spices sing. However if you don't usually take sugar in your cuppa, bear in mind that the sweetness can help to balance the spiced flavour.
To make your own traditional chai, simply simmer milk with a good, strong loose leaf black tea, a sweetener and ground or whole spices. Most importantly, the tea needs to be strong so the spicy flavours don't overpower it. Assam is the authentic choice but you may prefer a lighter Nilgiri, as suggested above. The basic chai blueprint suggests 1/4 to 1/2 part milk made up with water while whole milk is the best dairy addition for it's rich, comforting taste. Plain white caster sugar is fine for the sweet element but try demerara, soft brown sugar or even honey to add a rich caramel note to the brew. You can skip adding sugar by using condensed milk for double duty sweetener and dairy. Heat the liquid until just under boiling point and once the flavours have released into the liquid (but before they get a chance to release bitter tannins) strain out the solids and serve the chai in little cups.
But what spices should you include? In India the spices used vary from region to region and individual families will always have their preferred recipe (although traditional chai always includes cinnamon, caradmom, ginger and cloves). Jane Pettigrew advises that black pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and star anise make for a particularly "delicious" brew. Cardamom often takes on the dominant flavour while the zing of fresh ginger is used (although all the other spices are dried). Chai from Western India also skips the addition of star anise, black pepper and cinnamon while the Kashmiri version of chai is brewed with green gunpowder tea and sometimes includes almonds or saffron for a subtler flavour. You could even add nutmeg, dried rose petals or liquorice root to the brew. Experiment and see which flavours you enjoy best!
Image credits:
Young chaiwallah: indiamike.com
Chai with spices: nicomaramckay.com
Chai spices: creativeconfectioneryblog.com
Tea picker: addictedtotravel.com