Chai

A few days ago I discovered an unopened packet of Red Label on the shelf. Amma had bought it when she was here a couple of years ago. Growing up tea always meant milk tea. It's not just milk and tea, it's also sugar. Without sugar, the concoction is, let's say, an acquired taste. A sweetener, though, transforms it into something more - rainy afternoons, cricket, bicycles and the neighborhood. A distant past.

I suddenly had the urge to make tea. So with the help of the internet and an inkling of how Amma would have gone about it, I fumbled around the kitchen. For a novice effort, it didn't taste as bad as I thought it would. The next day I made chai¹ once again. Still pretty good. By this time I had already claimed to family and friends that I make some fine tea. I should have qualified the claim with "in my house." After all, I did not really measure the portions when preparing; it was all vibes and whatever the vessels in the kitchen allowed.

This morning I urgently took measurements, and here I am recording the ratio of water to milk and the number of teaspoons I used so I can make perfectly reasonable chai anywhere on the planet.

• 8 oz of water. Heat it until it simmers.
• Add three crushed cardamoms and one crushed clove. Add a bit of ginger, half an inch, although I think one could get away with an inch.
• After a minute, add two and a half medium spoons of tea.
  • Red Label tea is grown and processed in Assam. Noting for the future, in case I have to make substitutes.²
• Wait for the mixture to come to a boil.
• Add 12 oz of milk. Again, wait for it to simmer. The chai has got to be steaming hot.
• Be generous with stevia or monk fruit. I use three small spoons, and that's still not as sweet as the tea one would get at a darshini.

At the end of the process, there should be between 16 oz and 18 oz of chai. That's more than what two people should need, but also just about enough if a couple were to really enjoy their tea.

FOOTNOTES