Skip to main content

I can make tea

 Yes, I can make tea. Not the la-di-dah English variety or the dipped in tea bag variety, but the thing Indians call as tea. It is what you get by the roadside - sometimes - not the roadside brown kheer that is passed off as chai. But in most places in India (and Nepal), you will get well brewed, with milk, sugar, ginger or cardamom or an assortment of spices that is known as chai masala that is a satisfying brew morning, noon or evening.

It all started with trying to go on a fast. And then, the one coffee that I had in the morning (a small cup, again - the filter coffee that is so dear to us) - if I did not have the coffee, I would get a headache. Tea does no such thing, so we tried to switch to tea. 

And I wanted to get the perfect cuppa chai. 

It started with unconscious incompetence - I had no idea how to make chai. 

And so I tried. And moved to conscious incompetence. All my attempts to make tea will pathetic. Too much water. Too little chai. Too much water. Too much sugar. Where did the milk vanish? Homeopathic chai (that dilute). 

And then over a week, I moved to conscious competence. I got the perfect brew. I had to additionally invest in a ginger grater (grating works better than crushing told an experienced chai maker). And then I had to wait in a restaurant while the guy made tea for us. And I watched the expert get it right. 

So, how do you do it?

Equal measure milk and water. 

First boil water. Grate ginger (be generous). 1 or 2 spoons of tea powder per cup of tea. Add a little chai masala if you like the spice. Boil. Add milk. I also add sugar here, but this can be done later also with no change in taste. 

Bring to boil. Reduce flame. (Repeat 2-3 times). 

Filter and pour. 

And such it has been. Great tea. 

And now to move to unconscious competence. That will be a while methinks. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Be Civil. Make nice!

Popular posts from this blog

The man who saved Pumpelsdrop

This was a story we had in college if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it was in school, but a delightful story it was. The story goes somewhat like this ( reproduced from here ), but the college version we had was slightly different from this.  I t was a dull, gloomy and a depressing morning in a town named Pumpelsdrop in northern England. The Great Depression had brought all the businesses to a standstill. The bored automobile dealer was spending time alone, as usual. But, this seems to be an unusual morning as an odd entity (customer) appeared on the horizon. A man in a bright suit walks up to the dealer and says, "I need to buy a Rolls Royce Phantom II. We have a business conference coming up and I need to impress my customers". Then proceeds to pay 10% of the deal with a single check for 2000 pounds. The rest he says will pay when he takes the delivery.   The auto dealer was stunned. He was delighted to hear that someone is holding a business conference of some kind and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

And the unconference happened

 Most conferences have an agenda. No, not the stated agenda, but an agenda of marketing, airtime to sponsors, ensuring the past and future customers are invited, of ensuring that the "stars" of the industry are invited and attention showered of them. All in all it is a your scratch my back, I scratch your back syndrome. Some of these become cliques and claques and therefore the real point behind a conference is lost. And then there is the unconference - organised and run by the alumni of the ISABS ODCP program. And as the name suggests, this is truly an un-conference organised by the alumni, for the alumni. No funders - except the alumni themselves. No sponsors. Just the team.  I havent seen a more tastefully organised conference (yes, its an unconference).  To begin with - the location - not a typical star hotel, but an outdoorsy place. The food - simple. The welcome - personal. It was like a homecoming. The setting was warm and welcoming. It was a smaller conference. Ju...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why does elearning exist?

 Elearning is one of those niches that does not deserve to exist. Yes, it was a novelty 20 years ago, but not now. It cannot exist. But somehow it does. Disclaimer: I used to head a content team once upon a time. And I used to ask those whom I hired - tell me the last thing you learnt from an e-learning. The answer is - pretty much nothing (and this is a good decade ago).  Why?  If you want to learn a recipe, you go to Youtube, or Reels or something like that. If you are terribly old fashioned - as in, you read - then you go to a website and read the recipe and make it.  Most other things you learn by doing or learning on the job or asking an expert.  If you have to learn something in depth, then there are other ways.  So, where does e-learning fit in all this? E-learning is one of those products that the customer hates, but has no choice, because someone has decided it is the best way. For instance, you have to learn a new CRM or some other product - you w...
Post a Comment
Read more