mint masala chai

Most weekday mornings, I wake up to an alarm and start my day with a cup of tea which is a teabag dipped in boiling water.  And I look forward to Saturdays.  Because I get to sleep in and start the day with tea that is slow-brewed with ginger and fresh mint and spices, poured into my favorite mug and sipped slowly while I browse the web without guilt about wasting a morning.

This way of drinking tea used to be the norm rather an exception for me in India, before I gave in to the convenience of teabags and a hurried cup of tea.  It tasted extra special during monsoons, when we were returning from college and got caught in a sudden downpour.  Invariably, one of us would have forgotten our umbrella so we would be huddled, two or three girls under a shared umbrella, clutching our Amarsons bags with our books and files in them, the wet edges of our salwars sloshing around our feet and ankles as we tried to cross a busy Mumbai road without getting run over by a car or taxi, looking very much like a gaggle of geese crossing the road 🙂  The blue plastic sheet over the chaiwallah’s tapri (small tea shack) in the distance was a welcome sight and far superior to our flimsy umbrella so we would quickly make our way to it’s shelter.  Standing underneath it, dripping and shivering, we would watch him boil water and pound the ginger with a small stone before throwing it in.  Then the spices and milk went in and finally the sugar while it bubbled and boiled.   He would strain it into another vessel through a brown muslin cloth which had probably started out as white in color a long time ago.  Then it would be poured into a row of the typical ridged glasses until half full.  Hence the name “Cutting Chai” – for half the portion!  The ginger and spices in the hot tea immediately warmed us, giving us the courage to head out into the rain again.

All this so many years ago.  And just as many sweet memories associated with that glass of chai.  The late night trips with my dad to the the factory he was in charge of.  While he went in to check on the production in the night shift, my sister and I would go to the room by the gate where the security guards were making their cup of tea and they would give us some too.  And later, when I was working in an office, the tea delivery boys – all called the same ‘chotu’ –  meaning little one, bringing the mid-morning and late-afternoon cups of tea in a wire carrier in one hand and a kettle with refills in the other.

My love of chai has not wavered in all this time 🙂 Now when I make chai at home, I like to add some fresh mint or lemongrass in addition to the chai masala and ginger.  I keep the chai masala fairly simple – just some cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and black pepper that are coarsely pounded with a mortar and pestle.  You can add some fennel seeds and/or star anise if you like.   I also add the chai masala with a gentle hand since I don’t want it to overpower the mint.  Once you have made it for yourself, you will instinctively know what you would want to change the next time. Although chai masalas and chai-flavored teabags are easily available, I would highly recommend making your own.  If possible, pound the ginger with a pestle or grate it……you get the most flavor out of it that way.