Masala Chai Tea

Masala Chai developed in India in the days of the British East India Company when the British were trying to promote Indian tea, as a way to break the Chinese monopoly. The British encouraged factories and other working places to have "tea breaks" for their workers, just like at home in Britain! They also supported independent tea sellers on the growing railroad system.

The British promotion of tea encouraged drinking tea with milk and sugar, unlike the traditional Asian style. In order to save money, and make the rather expensive tea last longer, the vendors began adding additional spices, resulting in spiced tea, or Masala Chai.

Today, Masala chai is very popular in Inda. Young chai wallahs ("tea persons") can be found everywhere brewing the spiced tea in kettles and brass pots. They sell the Masala chai to passers-by in small disposable cups.

Image of young chai wallah
from Wikimedia Commons.

Masala chai is also very popular in the home, with each household having their own recipe and method of preparation. Different spices and proportions are used, producing a wonderful diversity in this drink. There are also variations in method of preparation - whether the tea is added first, or the spices, or whether everything is just boiled up together.

One thing that is constant though is that Masala chai has four ingredients - black tea (usually Assam), spices, milk, and sweetener. The spices are traditionally whole spices, strained off along with the tea leaves before serving. The dominant spice is usually cardamon, and ginger (especially fresh ginger) and cloves are commonly used to impart a spicy flavor.


Chai Tea Art Print
Buy at AllPosters.com

Masala Chai
Buy at AllPosters.com

My Indian friend served us Masala chai after dinner recently. She didn't tell us exactly what it was going to be, just offered "tea." She started boiling some stuff in a pot so we wondered a bit. Then she served the drink with floating green leaves in it! Although I could have done without those leaves (not quite sure what they were even now) the Masala chai was really delicious. I had to ask for seconds!


Anyway, although the authentic Masala chai, different in every home I'm sure, is wonderful, there's plenty of "Westernized" varieties available that taste really good. Some of them use vanilla or chocolate, which make the whole drink taste much less like a spiced drink and more like a flavored hot chocolate. Just remember they are often already sweetened so hold off on the sugar till you taste them! And, yes, unless it says decaffeinated on the container, Masala chai is made from black tea so it has caffeine.

Tea: Chai Tea
Buy at AllPosters.com

So whether you already loved Masala Chai or just became a convert after reading this lens, maybe you'd like to show off to the world this great drink. Here's some items you can purchase that show you're a Masala Chai fan. Buy a shirt, bag or whatever and enjoy!

Masala Chai Appreciation Society by smallhandsdesigns at zazzle.com


Masala Chai Appreciation Society by smallhandsdesigns at zazzle.com


Masala Chai Appreciation Society by smallhandsdesigns at zazzle.com


got chai? by gottees at zazzle.com

Copyright © Jennifer P. Tanabe, 2009.
This page was created on May 12, 2009 and is the property of jptanabe (Jennifer P. Tanabe) and Squidoo, LLC. Please do not copy my material!