Thai Green Curry with Ching's curry paste

I so like Thai green curry and my husband just cannot stand it. He somehow cannot take the aroma of the thai curry, I guess its to do with the galangal, lemon grass and basil in the curry. So this means, no  Thai restaurants or takeaways when eating out and cooking different things for him and me is out also. So when I saw the Ching's Thai green curry paste on the shelves in Big Bazar I just picked it. Of course there were 2 other brands but the price was the clinching factor for me! Next I needed some canned coconut milk and got Real Thai coconut milk and that because I have used it before and liked it. Though I would suggest using the Lite coconut milk for this curry.

 

I have always liked the vegetable Thai curry rather than the one with chicken. So I grabbed a zucchini and a small tray of baby corns from the store before exiting. I had some eggplant, carrots and bell peppers in the frig and I put all together and chopped them up. Then all I did was follow the instructions given on the bottle and it was done in no time!

It was definitely not the best curry like some I have had at restaurants but will make do to satisfy my cravings sometimes. Next, will try the red curry paste!

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.