Tea is a favorite beverage among Indians. Similarly, other cultures swear by their triple doses of coffee as a staple and necessary part of their diets.
There are many flavors of tea available. American cafes are now also serving chai lattes as part of the global phenomenon. What are the favorites of the Indian population? Tell us which tea flavor you like and choose from the list below. Tea can be helpful at times when our lives become unnerving, like when we’re starting a new job. Don’t you think it’s so inviting and feels so great? There are many types of chai to choose from, but most of us have experience drinking traditional tea.
The masala chai
Chai of this type is probably the most popular among everyone. There is a popular drink they serve at new-age cafes called Truck Walon Ki or Trucker’s Chai. It is a good idea because truckers spend more time on the road and drink more tea than just about anyone else.
To meet your needs, we offer you various masalas. Ginger tea, or Adrak wali Chai as we call it in our country, is very popular and a favorite of mine. In addition to black pepper, cardamom, cloves, tulsi leaves, cinnamon, lemongrass, or fennel seeds, you can add fruits, vegetables, and spices to this dish: a single herb, two spices, or all of them. There is no restriction on how many kicks you can add. Following a cup of milk tea, you will feel full. Any kind of street food tastes great with the seasoning, including Samosas and Pakoras.
Traditionally, kulhads-style glasses are served hot right from an aluminium kettle returning to a Chulha or stove. The tiny glasses that tea comes in are also associated with tea shops in other places. Outside colleges and in western India, one can get a cup of cutting chai, which is a common drink.
Assam’s Lal Cha
The first step is taking a moment to honor the land that sends us our morning cup of tea. Lal Cha is popular in Assam and most of North East India, including Sikkim. It is black tea with generously added sugar and tastes best without milk. In true Lal Cha fashion, the tea is reddish-brown. As we traveled through Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Sikkim, it was this tea that kept us going. A couple of days after drinking it, you have an integral part of your journey through the area. In the future, when you land in Lal Cha, you should try to find it.
There may be some special chai leaves because the decoction itself is not as bitter as you might expect. Our experience on the mainland across India is different.
Nathdwara’s Fudina Chai
Not many people know of Nathdwara, a tiny town in Rajasthan where pilgrimage revolves around Srinathji’s Haveli. These Thelas or carts with bunches of mint leaves frequently appear on the streets leading to Shrinathji temple. It is called Fudina instead of Pudina by the Hindi speakers because the leaves are bigger than usual. You are served tea in small conical cups made of clay or conical kulhads. You can wake up with just one sip. A vibrant mint flavor strikes you, and it is impossible to sleep with any of your senses activated.
The variety of mint you are looking for seems to be native to the region. Apart from this, mint has never been used so liberally in tea in any other country. Try this Fudina version of prasad at Nathdwara, along with the delicious prasad of the temple.
Ladakhi Butter Tea, or Gud Gud Chai
Almost all the hills in the area with Buddhist monasteries grow butter tea. There are few places better than monasteries to sample this type of tea. In the morning, you can visit the sanctuary while the monks chant while drinking hot tea. A salty, buttery taste accompanies it. Before deciding whether you like it, you should eat a single piece.
Butter tea is available in many hotels in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Bhutan.
Kashmir’s Kahwah
Kahwah, a mild tea flavored with spices and dry fruits, is a must-have when visiting Kashmir valley. When you land at most hotels, you’ll be able to experience Kahwah as soon as you enter. The best thing to do in Kashmir is sit in the mild sun with a cup of Kahwah and watch the snow-covered mountains. The absence of milk makes it possible to have as many cups as you like. It’s like sipping flavored water to stay warm.
Ingredients such as walnuts, almonds, and saffron make it unique.
Iranian Chai in Hyderabad
Making it in a large round pot or a Deguchi means letting it boil and brew for a long time. With a lot of milk, this tea has a real milky taste. There are times when we wonder if they use water in the process. There is a light brown color to it, and it is creamy and sweet. The Osmania biscuit is a favorite among Hyderabadis. Unlike traditional biscuits, the last nawab’s biscuit is salty and has the name of the previous nawab on the outside—one of the least known tea kayaks. Hyderabad’s contribution to Iranian Chai, however, cannot be overlooked.
Concerning the regular Indian tea, one shared the recipe – boil water, add half the tea leaves, double the sugar, reference to boiling water, and add half the tea leaves. Don’t take the fire out until the lovely color has emerged. Irani Chai is the name we prefer.
Meter Chai: A Tamil chai that is very popular in Tamil Nadu
There is no better way to appreciate filter coffee in Tamil Nadu than by savouring it. Here in the South, you can buy tea on the roadside or in the bus stations, but it tastes like coffee. A brass pot usually stands to store the tea concoction. Whenever you order your cuppa, the milk pours into a steel tumbler with the concoction. During the pouring of the drink in the tumbler, the tumbler goes up in the air. It takes tea a few times to get to your hands because the tumblers keep switching. Like a piece of fabric, the tea feels like it is weighing.
Pune’s Amrutulya Chai
In the original language, amrutulya means nectar. There is no doubt that tea is the second drink only after nectar to tea drinkers. In Old Pune’s Peths, tea comes in brass kettles strained through cloth instead of a metal filter instead of a metal strainer. This version of the dish cannot fail to delight when visiting Pune.
A Meri Wali Chai to you
Homemade tea is the type you make yourself. Tea leaves, water, milk, sugar, and sugar are all the same ingredients. Your proportion of all these ingredients, brewed perfectly to achieve the perfect taste, lingers on your tongue. In the end, we all end up in this world after experiencing all the other versions and experimenting with them.
You can enjoy this favourite refreshment outside colleges, at railway stations and bus stops, and in university canteens.
