tepidophobia

noun | teh-pee-do-fo-biya

The fear of being served badly prepared tea.

A very legit fear, especially if you've been drinking tea for as long as I have. Call me neurotic, I'll stick to connoisseur.

kadak meethi cha

Translation: Strong and sweet tea.

We Gujaratis secretly believe there's only one way to consume chai. 👆🏽

my chai recipe

What kind of person would I be to tell you so much about my favourite hot beverage and then not tell you how to make it? Here's my recipe that will make two Indian-sized cups. You're welcome 🫰🏼

Ingredients

1. 1.5 cups water

2. 1.5 cups milk

3. 3 tsp of tea

4. 4 tsp sugar

5. About half a blob of ginger

6. A few mint leaves

Method

1. Add equal parts water and milk to a saucepan and bring it to a simmer.

2. Add sugar and tea and wait for the first boil.

3. Just when the milk+water is about to come to a boil, grate the ginger and add the mint leaves.

4. Lower the flame and once the chai settles, increase the flame and let it boil again.

5. Repeat the process a couple of times.

6. At this point, smell the tea. It should not smell of raw milk; if it does, boil it again.

7. Now put the sieve over the cup and pour the chai. You'll see that despite making three cups of chai, you're left with two and a little more cups. That's because you boiled and boiled and all that water evaporated.