Rose Green Tea

There are tea loyalists and then there are coffee loyalists and each guard their bastions with complete conviction. I am very much a tea drinker. Though I have to admit I stick to coffee when I travel because experience has taught me that vendors can mess a tea whereas not so much an instant coffee. After all for a coffee, all they do is add a little instant coffee to the hot water-milk-sugar mix. If it is light for your taste a little more coffee powder can be added but not so with tea! As for me, a hot cuppa strong tea in the morning coaxes me awake and helps me acknowledge the world around me. A Taiwanese ex-colleague of mine was a green tea loyalist and she had 2 cups a day at work - in mid-morning and evening. She had never had any other tea and it was the same with her family. And that's the first green tea loyalist I met.

 

That reminded me of my trip to Goa with my friend and her sister. We were still in school then and felt very important that we were making that trip alone. It did not matter that her cousin and uncle and aunt would be waiting at the bus stand for us and would escort us every minute from there on! We were staying at her cousin's place and every morning we would have Rose Tea and biscuits while sitting in the verandah  overlooking the greenery around. That was the first time I had a flavored tea and I loved it, though I am not sure if it was green!

 

Years later, when my friend visited Goa I asked her to pick a box of Rose Tea and she got me this :

The Green element to this Rose Green Tea was a bonus. I boiled a cup of water, took it off the heat and added the tea leaves. Then let it steep for 2 to 3 minutes and it was ready to be poured into a mug. Have it steaming hot especially on a cold day. I learnt from practice that a hot mugful of green tea was really good at keeping the cold away during the winters. It's beneficial in a couple of ways - keeps me warm and increases my liquid intake! As for the benefits of green tea, the internet lists quite a few: reduces the risk of heart attacks and cancer, lowers bad cholesterol, controls diabetes and some more. It is the most sought after for its anti-aging and weight loss properties. Both of which I could do with! Cheers!

 

Chai tea latte, Chai, Cha, Chaaya, Tea.... my high

Tea is made in so many ways in India and this post is to reminisce on the way chaaya is made in Kerala. I will try some other methods and post them later.

Chaaya

In Kerala Chaaya - that's tea in malayalam, is made a little differently. It is prepared by  adding some strong tea leaves to boiling water and the vessel is covered with a lid. The gas/ heat is shut off at this point without boiling it any further. Heat the milk separately, add sugar and pour in the black tea. Now comes the difference in method. Kerala chaaya making process is complete only after beating the tea! This is done to mix the sugar, tea concoction and milk really well. Also, my mom believes that the taste of milk changes when it is beaten like this. 

For this, take two mugs or glasses and pour from one cup to the other from a height repeatedly to create a frothy top. This could sound crazy when written so check the pictures and you will get an idea. Your tea is ready when the froth is formed at the top of the glass/ cup and the sugar is well mixed in.

Now for the measurements, for a glass of tea of the size shown below, take water - 3/4th glass, milk - 1/4th glass, tea leaves - 1tsp heaped, sugar as per taste. Chaaya is normally strong and hence the color is more brown than milky! 

The method of making chaaya and pulled tea of Malaysia is the same. Pulled tea is also poured from one container to the other to create a layer of froth at the top. It is likely that this method of preparing tea was taken to Malaysia from India by the immigrants when both countries were British colonies. Not sure of the taste though, maybe I will taste it sometime in the future. Cheers :)

 

P.S. I use either Wagh Bakri or Girnar tea, both are strong teas.

Brunch with leftovers!

Take some leftovers, put them together with some additions and voila! you have a lovely brunch.

On a cold Sunday morning, the urge to sleep in under a warm comforter is really high and hence a meal of leftovers makes life easy. The menu was - an onion and green chilli omelette, potato masala sandwiches, cheese slices, sweet puttu and bananas and tea to round it all off.

I had some potato masala in the refrigerator and I used this to make some stuffed sandwiches which I then toasted with butter in a pan. I also had some puttu which I had steamed with sugar and extra coconut to make an instant sweet ending to our breakfast. Added some small bananas to the steamed puttu - all Kerala style! All this needed was a Kerala chaaya and my meal was ready to be served.

Puttu and Kadala curry - YUM!!!

Puttu (steamed rice cake) and kadala (black gram) curry, a favourite Malayali breakfast, so warm and filling on a wintery morning. Add a malayali chaaya (tea) to this to round off the meal!