This chai stand may look a little suspect, but my host, Imran Khan, assured me that it's one of the oldest and best in Jodhpur. I admired the patina on the tea kettle and put my trust in boiling water. The chai was delicious.
We have chai everywhere, morning, noon and night and several times in between. Unlike the spice saturated, quart-sized grande buckets of chai at Starbucks and the like in the US, chai here is small and simple. Milk boiled with tea, some sugar and maybe a little cardamom or ginger, served in small tea cups or glasses or paper cups or recyclable-on-the-spot earthenware cups, but usually in little flimsy plastic things that look like water cups for chasing pills. Perhaps more Starbucks-like, chai is everywhere. But no one drinks on the go. There are no lids for the cups, no cup holders in rikshaws or taxis. Chai is for sitting and sipping and chatting, pondering and stalling. Being and not doing. And more chai breaks is always better. If there is one Indian tradition that we should adopt in the US, this is it. Take a break... have a chai.
find some authentic chai mix to bring back! (or is that not possible because it includes india air, dirty pots, and bobbling, smiling indian people serving it to you.)
ReplyDeleteIt's not possible to bring back, exactly... there's no mix and you need a chai guru to teach you. I did get some tips from an American who lives here, who imports incense and had a chai guru teach him. But it's a secret that I can't post... you'll just have to come by and have a chai when I get back and I'll show you:-)
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