CHAI

I have just discovered that the word 'chai' is the Hindi word for 'tea' !  To me, chai means one thing and that is 'Masala chai' - a very hot spicy drink.   Tea grew wild in Assam from antiquity but was treated by the locals as a medicine (the Italians still regard tea as a medicine) and it was only until the British turned it into an industry to supply the home market, that it was taken seriously in India itself.  The British encouraged factory owners to give their employees tea breaks and so it gradually caught on - now chai wallahs are ubiquitous and are seen on every street corner dispensing their brew and are an essential part of train travel.

Of course it is quite a different drink to the one we all know -  tea without milk and sugar and sometimes with a little lemon.  But here they simmer a mixture of water, milk and tea leaves to which a lot of sugar is added and the all important spices - cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorn and cloves.  It's served in little glasses too hot to hold and the tea itself is so hot you can't drink it immediately.

Everyone has their own theory about what makes the tea special - they'll say,   'oh it's definitely the black pepper'   or   'ginger is the best ingredient'.    Even the expats have strong views about this and the mortar and pestle will be brought out, as they set about grinding the best combination of spices to be added to the brew.

Indians believe that the Western palette is not attuned to their spicy food and need constant reassurance that in fact it's the spices which make it all so interesting.  After all, that was the basis for the spice trade long ago.  In medieval Italy, people spiced their food so much that it was believed at one time, that the spices themselves, had caused the plague - indirectly, it was true, for it was the trading ships returning to Genoa, which brought the disease with them.