flipSisters' Chai (Spiced Milk Tea from Calcutta)
Sisters' Chai (Spiced Milk Tea from Calcutta)
Why this dish? In Calcutta, hot chai punctuates every day: it is offered to visitors, warms you before dawn, and is shared on street corners in small terracotta cups. In the life of the Missionaries of Charity, this sweet, spiced tea was the simplest and most universal gesture of hospitality.
A black tea long boiled in milk, perfumed with ginger and cardamom, generously sweetened. The popular drink of India, the one you offer with both hands to anyone passing by.
Come in, sit down, I will serve you a nice hot chai. See how we make it: we let the tea boil with the milk, crush a little ginger and cardamom, and sweeten generously, because sweetness is a way of welcoming. Hold your cup with both hands. A shared tea is already a little tenderness given.
- •Black tea — a good pinch per cup (base)
- •Milk — half the volume of water (creaminess)
- •Fresh ginger — a knob (warming spice)
- •Cardamom — a few pods (fragrance)
- •Sugar — generously (welcoming sweetness)
Sisters' Chai (Spiced Milk Tea from Calcutta)
A black tea long boiled in milk, perfumed with ginger and cardamom, generously sweetened. The popular drink of India, the one you offer with both hands to anyone passing by.
Why this dish? In Calcutta, hot chai punctuates every day: it is offered to visitors, warms you before dawn, and is shared on street corners in small terracotta cups. In the life of the Missionaries of Charity, this sweet, spiced tea was the simplest and most universal gesture of hospitality.
Come in, sit down, I will serve you a nice hot chai. See how we make it: we let the tea boil with the milk, crush a little ginger and cardamom, and sweeten generously, because sweetness is a way of welcoming. Hold your cup with both hands. A shared tea is already a little tenderness given.
Ingredients (period version)
- Black tea — a good pinch per cup (base)
- Milk — half the volume of water (creaminess)
- Fresh ginger — a knob (warming spice)
- Cardamom — a few pods (fragrance)
- Sugar — generously (welcoming sweetness)
Ingredients
- Loose Assam black tea — 2 tsp (base)
- Water — 250 ml (infusion)
- Whole milk — 250 ml (creaminess)
- Fresh ginger — 1 piece (2 cm) (spice)
- Green cardamom pods — 4 (fragrance)
- Sugar — 2 to 3 tsp (sweetness)
Method
- Lightly crush the cardamom pods and ginger.
- Bring the water to a boil with the ginger and cardamom for 2 minutes.
- Add the tea and let it infuse at a simmer for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk and sugar, then let it boil for 3–4 minutes, watching that it doesn't overflow.
- Strain and serve very hot in small cups.
How it was made : Masala chai as we know it spread across India in the 20th century, especially when tea and sugar production became affordable. Chaiwallahs prepared it (and still do) in a blackened pot, boiling it several times, and served it in disposable terracotta cups (kulhar) that were broken after use.
The contemporary twist : A pinch of black pepper and a cinnamon stick for a winter 'chai latte' version.
Mother Teresa · Charactorium
