Chai, chai, chai, that's how you could hear the chaiwala walking around on the trains or buses in India. I must admit that there have been fewer of these over the years, there have been vending machines in metros, train and bus stations. The traditional unglazed, terracotta glass shaped like a cup without a "handle" called kulhar, has unfortunately been replaced with a plastic cup(!!) It is very sad that a 5000 year old custom is dying out, in 2004 one of the politicians tried to revive the tradition with the terracotta glass. The counterargument was that it meant an annual production of 1.8 billion glasses..
Since the terracotta cups are normally fired in a kiln, there would be subsequent contamination even though it is sterile and hygienic. People threw the kulhar straight out the window after use, rain, weather and wind caused it to naturally crumble. It turned out that a plastic cup was cheaper too, about 7-10 paise per plastic cup while a kulhar was around 40 paise (Paisa is the Indian currency unit for a penny. Krone=rupee). Don't I see how plastic could be more environmentally friendly? But plastic won out both in terms of price and because it was easier for the chaiwalla to carry.
I still remember the special aroma of the terracotta cup with chai, for me it ended with a very boring episode. In the winter of 1991, our firstborn was 6 months old and I was on leave and traveled to India for 3 months. During the stay, he received his father's silver cup that his grandmother had taken care of for about 30 years. To attend a family party, we traveled from Delhi to Punjab by train. After a long-awaited cup of chai in kulhar, I threw my cup out of the window as was tradition. Don't you think my son followed suit and did the same with the inherited silver cup (!!). It was comical and sad at the same time.
Cardamom , which is called the queen of the spice rack, has a very central place in the Indian chai culture. I always make chai with some spice or my own ground chai masala. Once you have tasted chai with spices and milk, you can understand that it becomes boring without spices. Crushed cardamom pods simply do magic with chai, then I can recommend Assam chai which is a black type (i.e. not green chai). There is caffeine in coffee and theine in chai, cardamom and milk reduce the theine effect in chai. That is why it is made like this in India.
As I usually say, there is a meaning to which spices are used in which dishes.
Cardamom chai
Heat 3.5 dl water with 2-3 crushed green cardamom pods. Add 2 tsp good Assam chai, bring to a boil and add 1-1 ½ dl whole milk. Bring everything to a boil and add sugar to taste.
