For 12 years, Intrepid chief, Saurabh Joshi, also referred to as Chai Lord (on Instagram at the very least), has guided travellers round India to indicate them what makes his dwelling nation so magical. Ingesting chai collectively is an enormous a part of these adventures.
Saurabh obtained his first style of India’s chai scene as a baby within the northwestern metropolis of Jaipur.
‘My father was a cricket coach and I used to go together with him to periods. Every time he would return, he would cease at chai outlets to meet up with different cricket coaches,’ he remembers. ‘That was my introduction to having chai exterior of my dwelling.’
Saurabh goes onto add that this ritual has stayed with him. ‘I [still] drink one chai every single day exterior of my home or workplace, simply because I wish to reside in that setting,’ Saurabh says. ‘I don’t even want firm… you simply go and see the theatre for 5 minutes.’
Chances are high you’ve sipped on a chai (latte) earlier than, however for Saurabh and lots of locals in India, chai is greater than a scorching drink – it’s an enormous a part of household and social life.
Saurabh doesn’t drink, in order an grownup, assembly up for chai is sort of like having a beer with buddies. ‘It’s identical to going to a pub,’ he says. He shares there’s one thing ritualistic about sipping on the recent drink, and it’s a good way to get pleasure from people-watching solo, too.
Chances are high you’ve sipped on a chai (latte) earlier than, however for Saurabh and lots of locals in India, chai is greater than a scorching drink – it’s an enormous a part of household and social life.
He explains that chai is the nice uniting pressure – it brings folks from totally different walks of life collectively. The consolation and ease of the drink makes it a memorable on a regular basis expertise. ‘There’s no frills round it, no pretense,’ he says. ‘It’s a drink for half a greenback.’
There are lots of sorts of chai made out of substances from throughout India. Within the northeast, assam chai is a stronger mix. Within the West Bengal area, Darjeeling – a black tea – is frequent. Tulsi chai is understood for its well being advantages, brewed with holy basil. These are just some varieties; relying on the place you go, there shall be a chai distinctive to the place and the folks.
Masala chai is made by including spices, akin to inexperienced cardamom and contemporary ginger to black tea whereas it’s brewing. It brings collectively components from each nook of India. ‘The spices come from down south; the tea is coming from the Northeast; the milk is coming from Gujarat and Punjab,’ Saurabh says. ‘It’s in all probability essentially the most Indian factor you could possibly have.’
For Saurabh, making chai is a crucial type of self-expression. His Instagram moniker, Chai Lord, is impressed by Osho, an Indian thinker and religious chief famend for his teachings on institution, human psychology and religious expertise.
‘[Osho] says that the true type of God, he sees in creativity… For me, [when] I put together my chai, it’s like I’m dwelling my creativity.’
Saurabh says the markers of chai are sturdy physique and completely proportioned components. ‘You need an equal quantity of milk and water, and stability of spices,’ he says.
For me, [when] I put together my chai, it’s like I’m dwelling my creativity.
What’s extra, persistence is a advantage, and freshness is crucial. ‘It must be effectively brewed. We don’t make a fast chai – it ought to take time,’ Saurabh says. ‘It must be served contemporary each time… You don’t reheat chai or reuse the combination of spices.’
There are additionally seasonal and regional concerns to get it excellent. ‘Generally when it’s too scorching, folks strive to not add an excessive amount of ginger, as a result of it heats your physique,’ Saurabh explains. ‘It’s solely inexperienced cardamom, which provides freshness and sweetness to the chai.’
‘Whenever you go to the warmer locations subsequent to the coastal areas, you don’t discover an excessive amount of spicy chai over there due to the humidity. They make it easy, identical to a tea with very refined spices, and in winter, we now have cinnamon black pepper.’
By way of this work and chatting with locals, Saurabh has found new favorite chai spots – known as chai walas – in several cities.
Every spot is wealthy with its personal private historical past. ‘There’s one in Jaisalmer the place an outdated man has been serving tea because the Nineteen Eighties, so I’m going to him now after I’m in Jaisalmer, which is our westernmost city in India,’ Saurabh shares.
‘In Jodhpur, there’s a tea store known as Chandu Ba – his grandfather was a refugee [during India’s] partition, so he got here from Pakistan. They make Irani chai… which could be very totally different however they’ve ‘Indianised’ it – they simmer the tea with spices and scale back them.’
Guests at all times discover one thing to understand within the ritual of ingesting chai, circling again to Saurabh’s early reminiscences of chai to attach with others. ‘Chai does truly assist me rather a lot by way of bonding – even when folks don’t like tea, they identical to the entire thought about it,’ he says. ‘That’s what chai does.’
You possibly can have an in-depth expertise of India’s nationwide drink with a chai tasting on the Traditional Rajasthan journey, however each journey to India is a grasp class within the artwork of sipping tea.
