The season for chai – Part 1

It’s the time for sweaters and woolen scarves, and for us tea aficionados this means only one thing: the season for chai has arrived! The coldest days of the year are perfect for enjoying this indulgent spiced tea that warms not just our bodies, but our spirits.

LET’S START WITH THE BASIC DEFINITION

Its proper name is masala chai, which literally means “tea with a mixture of spices”.

The most common name given to this blend of black tea and spices is chai. In India, where this delicious beverage was first created, “chai” simply means “tea” and comes from the Chinese word for tea: chá. So let’s not call it “chai tea”, because that’s like saying “tea tea”, which is redundant!

THE ORIGINS OF CHAI

In India, before tea became a daily custom, the local population consumed a hot masala beverage made exclusively from spices. Masala is the word for a generic mixture of spices and it’s believed that this beverage was invented as a purifying and invigorating medicinal remedy. As with all legends, the origins of masala are rather vague: it’s thought to date back 5000 years (some even say 9000!) and to have been created by an Indian or Persian king as a curative beverage. Much later, starting in the 20th century, the Indian Tea Association began to promote the consumption of tea and recommended the British preparation method which, traditionally, includes the addition of milk. Thus the spiced chai (black tea, sweetener, milk, and spices) that we all know and love was born. Undeniably delicious, these days its popularity has surpassed that of the traditional English cup of tea, especially in North America! But that’s not all. In India, masala chai has become the most widely consumed beverage of all, so much so that it’s sold on every street corner and even on trains by vendors known as chai wallahs. In Hindi, a wallah is someone who produces or sells a particular good. Chai, as we know, means tea. So a chai wallah is someone who prepares tea on an open flame and sells it out of a small stall. In India, these tea vendors are almost everywhere, exactly where and when you need a cup of tea. The tea is typically served hot in a small clay cup known as a chullarh, which is flame cooked at a low temperature by the same vendors. Not being glazed, the cups are virtually single-use: once emptied, they’re thrown on the ground where they break up into fragments and soon return to the earth from which they came. For the sake of simplicity, throughout the rest of this article I’ll use the word “chai” to refer to all spiced tea recipes.

THE BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES OF THIS INDIAN TEA

Chai is considered to be a sort of super drink because it combines various beneficial ingredients, each one characterized by properties that are good for the body: for example, fennel and cardamom stimulate digestion, ginger reduces post-meal abdominal bloating, black pepper is a powerful antioxidant, and so on and so forth. Furthermore, according to Ayurveda, milk is a true food and not simply a beverage, characterized by a sweet flavor that nourishes and gratifies the organism. In general, chai is believed to have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties and to boost metabolism. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be consumed in excessive quantities, also because it has a fair amount of sugar which makes it unsuitable for people suffering from specific ailments or who follow a low-calorie diet.

THE RECIPE FOR CHAI

Most commercialized chai in Europe and North America is made primarily with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. These were the most common and most readily available spices after WWII (just think of the apple pies that our grandmothers used to make!). In India, on the other hand, the true mecca of spices, every region, family, and individual has their own blend. Here we find cardamom, black or pink pepper, fennel seeds, cumin, ginger, turmeric, saffron, vanilla, citronella, star anise, etc.. 

Now that we’ve established there’s no official recipe for chai, and no need for specific ingredients or rigorously selected and measured spices, we can relax and start experimenting with just our favorites. Clearly we aren’t chai wallahs and don’t have their experience, but, using our own creativity, we can prepare a chai that comes close to the traditional one, obtaining a beverage with a complex, sweet, soft, creamy, and enveloping flavor. 

WHY MAKE OUR OWN CHAI?

The beauty of creating our own chai is that we can choose to use only those ingredients that we like or that are readily available to us. 

The key is to taste and experiment! For example, if you don’t like anise, you can substitute it with fennel seeds. Personal choice makes all the difference and allows us to experience the true nature of the beverage. Preparing chai is an art form: it permits us to taste and play around with a wide range of different flavor nuances, obviously always remaining within the basic limits of a balanced blend.

Now that you know the history of chai, you’re ready to create your own recipe. To find out my personal favorite, you’ll have to wait for the next article!