Chai: Recipe and History

In Nepal today, chai has become so familiar to the Nepali people that when two acquaintances meet on the street, rather than using the Nepali greeting "Namaste", people often simply ask: "Have you had chai?" Today, I'm going to write about how to make chai, and also about the history of chai.

Food culture and eating habits vary a great deal between the different religions, casts, people, and regions in Nepal. However, in both cities and in the country, across every caste, and across divisions of wealth and poverty, the flavour of chai is something that everyone enjoys.

How to make chai (2 minutes, preparation time 4 minutes)

Ingredients for 2 people

• 1 cup (200ml) water
• 1 cup milk
• 3 teaspoons black loose leaf tea
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 pea-sized ginger, crushed
• 0.5 teaspoons masala tea

Preparation

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add leaf tea, and wait for 10 seconds until the water on the leaf turns light brown.
3. Add milk and sugar.
4. Add crushed ginger just before the water begins to boil, then remove from heat when the water starts boiling.
5. Add the masala tea and stir.
6. Drain on a strainer and serve in a cup.

Step 2	Step 5	Step 5	Step 6

History

The history of chai begins in 1700, when England, a country in which 90% of the people enjoyed drinking tea, looked to colonize India as an alternative to China as tea supplier.

England started to harvest large-scale plantations of tea throughout India, sending more and more poor Indians who did not even know how to pick leaves and produce tea into plantations, smuggling high-quality tea seedlings from China, taking Chinese with knowledge of tea manufacturing and bringing them into India. At the same time, the British government launched what is called its “Commercial Campaign” against ordinary Indian people who had never tasted tea for the purpose of motivating them, almost forcibly, to drink tea.

For the “Commercial Campaign”, British “Special Tea Demonstrators” were dispatched into India by the their government and went from house to house visiting Indian families and demonstrating to them how to serve tea, trying very hard to persuade them to try a taste of tea. They even showed films in order to attract those who strongly hesitated to drink tea. In factories, tea stands were set up so that Indian workers were compelled to have tea at the stands when they felt thirsty. During World War Two, tea was distributed to the Indian troops who were fighting on the front lines.

In the process of Britain’s strategic attempt to popularize tea among Indians, Indian people began adding masala and lots of sugar to their tea and found that this suited them better. This is what we call today “chai”. By the 1930s chai had become popular throughout India and has spread over the border, so that today it is enjoyed by Nepali people as well.

I wonder if perhaps the reason why chai is so popular among Indian and Nepali people and served, regardless of their religion, ethnic group or caste, in almost the same manner, with a similar taste no matter where you drink it, is because chai, rather than being a drink based on customs and culture, is one that was brought intentionally from a foreign country by outsiders and strategically spread among the local people.