Indian Street Food - SPICED MILK TEA Masala Chai

Pulled chai made by a tea seller, or "chai wallah". Here's how masala chai is made at the famous Krishna's Tea Stall. Ingredients include black tea, fresh whole milk, water, black peppercorns, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Unlike many milky teas, which are brewed in water with milk later added, traditional masala chai is often brewed directly in the milk.

Masala chai (Hindi: मसाला चाय, literally "mixed-spice tea"; Urdu: مصالحہ چائے‎) is a flavoured tea beverage made by brewing black tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs. Originating in India, the beverage has gained worldwide popularity, becoming a feature in many coffee and tea houses. Although traditionally prepared by a decoction of green cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, ground cloves, ground ginger, and black peppercorn together with black tea leaves, retail versions include tea bags for infusion, instant powdered mixtures, and concentrates. The noun "chai" alone refers to the beverage tea; in some places, chai is an acceptable equivalent for masala chai.

In many Eurasian languages, chai or cha is the word for tea. This comes from the Persian چای chay, which originated from the Chinese word for tea 茶 chá. (The English word tea, on the other hand, comes from the Teochew dialect of Chinese teeh.) In English, this spiced tea is commonly referred to as masala chai or simply chai, even though the term refers to tea in general in the origin language. Numerous United States coffee houses use the term chai latte or the redundant term chai tea latte for their version to indicate that the steamed milk, much like a regular cafè latte, is mixed with a spiced tea concentrate instead of espresso. By 1994 the term had gained currency on the U.S. coffeehouse scene.

Masala tea is a very popular beverage in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka). People start their day by consuming a cup of tea. This first cup of tea is fondly called 'bed tea'. Throughout the day people consume many cups of tea. Every street corner in places of business has a 'Chai Walla', a tea maker who brings hot tea to people's places of business whether they are retail businesses or commercial. Tea is a part of life and is offered to all guest at home and also to many customers visiting retail stores.

[drakedorosh]

0:41 Black Pepper, Water and Milk, 1:12 Cinnamon, 1:51 Cloves, 2:30 Dried Ginger, 3:40 Black Tea, 3:52 Cane Sugar, 4:04 Cardamom, 6:26 Air

[endofyraaaaryfodne]

I had the opportunity to visit India a couple of years back, and got a chance to drink chai from a street vendor. His little store was much more simple than this man. The way he made his tea, the way he served his tea and the way he watches all his customers to see if they enjoyed it our not told me I was lucky to be supporting the business of a man who loved his craft. His tea was the best chai tea I have ever tasted. I've tried so hard to look for that taste here where I live, but nothing compares to that cup of tea I drank on that quiet little corner of the world.

[angelicastarina]

I love how he ground each spice separately!! The amount of work in this! That’s great!!

[jasoneggegg]

Fun fact: that rock can destroy everything even nokia

[Skylark]

Having worked in the culinary industry I can say small vendors like this normally have fresh ingredients because they can’t afford to stock pile so they but the milk etc the same morning, now fancy restaurants on the other hand can stock pile and you run a proper chance of getting spoiled ingredients from them. So bigs up to this man 👍

[ObeseMurican]

I went out and found a smooth river rock today. My journey begins.

[kueunice]

I am impressed that he actually takes the time to grind the spice for each batch, and customers are willing to wait for it. In more fast paced cities (starbucks) we would just expect them to be ground and ready to go and wouldn't be willing to wait for it, and the sellers would feel pressured to grind them in advance.

[auggiesonatta]

you can tell he really puts a lot of himself into his work

[abuamanah]

Respect to the man; working hard, with the best of his abilities, to provide the best for his family. Peace be upon you my brother! !

[exen]

"Indian food wouldn't kill you"

-Anthony Bourdain

[MistyDelusions]

The ingredients used and the way the tea was prepared convinces me it's delicious.. I would love to try Indian tea someday :)

[Odelle]

I'm never gonna buy a mortar and pestle now, I'm just gonna get a nice smooth rock

[hs]

I have tried endlessly to make good chai like this, but fail miserably every time. I’m a good barista, and make excellent coffee, but I would love to have the feel for spices that this man has. He is a master of his trade.

[bajiron]

Now that was the best chai video I have watched! His tea pulling skills were amazing to watch!

[uncledubpowermetal]

The most fascinating part of the video? This man has been at this craft for so many years that his actual body has formed to the shape of his instruments. Look at how his fingers have begun to form themselves around the rock, which is the way he has gripped that stone for years. That is crazy, my friends lol I would happily sample this man's libations

[hanlieloyd]

Drinking chai in India is the best especially noticing slight variances in taste/recipe depending in which province you are. Some of my most valuable possessions at home are 3 fragile little terra-cotta chai cups which I dearly love. Amazing that it wasn’t broken on the flight back to South Africa. Seeing them takes me straight back to the streets in Kolkata where I got them.

[RH]

See that man's hard work just to prepare your hot tea in exchange of few coins. People like him should earn respect. Your few coins cannot make him rich but your small appreciation will put smile on his face to overcome the everday struggle of financial worries for his family.

[patriciaribaric]

What a beautiful art. I wish I could taste it!!! I hope he has a long blessed life!!!

[tuelienloanle]

The man loves his works and proud of what he make. ❤️

[kimkarnsbond]

Observed the quantities he used and just made this at home with pretty old spices and bags of subpar black tea which I cut open and dumped out of the bags. IT WAS AMAZING. Surprising due to my bad ingredients. Now off to Amazon to find better ingredients! I haven’t had tea like this since traveling to India on business years ago. I’ve really missed it.