Kulhad Masala Chai

Hot, minty, spicy, and sweet chai that reminds me winters are just around the corner! Pour in a mitti ka kulhad and you can add another level of fun to it's experience!

Kulhad Masala Chai with all the Spices

Kulhad Masala Chai

Ingredients

1/2 cup water
1 tbsp black tea leaves
10 fresh mint leaves
1/4 inch ginger piece crushed
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
2-3 green cardamoms opened but with shells
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar

Method

Heat water with the tea leaves, mint leaves, ginger and the spices till it comes to a boil. Lower the flame, cover the utensil and let it simmer for 5 mins at least. The longer you brew it, the tastier your tea will be.

Add in the milk and put on high flame till the milk comes to a boil. Add in the sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves. Lower the flame again and simmer till the desired colour is achieved. I like my tea strong so I brew it for another 7 to 8 minutes. It requires some time and patience, but the end results are totally worth the wait!

Pour into a kulhad and sip hot!

Kulhad Masala Chai

Asian Style Salad

I am in my salad phase. With exams around the corner and having to study for them, I do not have much time to go to the kitchen and cook elaborate meals. So I prefer making dishes that are quick and filling. And salads are a no-brainer for that. This Asian Style Salad has a balance of flavours of tangy, sweet, salty and punjent. For all tea lovers, it goes really well with lightly brewed green jasmine tea.

Asian Style Salad with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Asian Style Salad

Ingredients

For the Salad

100 grams cabbage
50 grams carrot
2 spring onions
10-15 fresh corriander leaves

For the Dressing

1 1/2 tsps sesame oil
1 1/2 tsps soya sauce
1 1/2 tsps white vinegar
1 tsp chilly flakes/ finely chopped fresh red chilly
1 tsp honey
Salt to taste

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method

Finely shred the cabbage. Julienne the carrots. Finely slice the spring onions. Mix them together in a bowl with the corriander leaves.

To make the dressing stir in the soya sauce, honey and vinegar into the sesame oil. Add the chillies and salt to taste. Pour over the salad, mix well with your hands.

Serve fresh and crunchy as is or topped with the toasted sesame seeds.

Asian Style Salad

Cheat's Kimchi Salad

I have a confession... this is not the original kimchi salad recipe nor does it claim to be authentic. The original Kimchi salad is had with every meal in Korean households. Korean kimchi salad is traditionally made of cabbage, raddish or cucumbers with ingredients such as chilly sauce, fish sauce etc. It is a fermented salad that is usually fermented for 2 or 3 days and can be sometimes fermented for months. I neither ferment it nor use fish sauce or other such condiments as I have never really tasted them and am weary of their flavours.

Then why do I call it a kimchi salad? It is simply because of the way it tastes vis-a-vis the ones I have had at good restaurants in India. Of course, as we all know, all restaurant recipes are guarded as diligently as national secrets. So the best I could do is to try and construct it back based on what I can taste commonly across these recipes. Also, I have used shortcut ingredients, because they have a good flavour and just work great at times.

This salad  has the crunch and freshness of the cabbage, piquancy and tangy flavour of the sauces and a slight nutty flavour from the toasted sesame seeds on top. With its spiciness and tanginess it is a family favourite at our household!

Piquant and Tangy Cheat's Kimchi Salad

Cheat's Kimchi Salad

Ingredients

1 small cabbage cut into 1 inch square slices
1 tbsp Schezwan sauce/ chutney
2 tbsps tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Salt to taste

Method

Take the cabbage slices in a large bowl. Add in the schezwan sauce/ chutney (I prefer the chutney), the salt and the tomato ketchup and toss them well. The sauces should evenly coat the cabbage slices throughout. Refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes so that the flavours seep into the cabbage well.

Toast the sesame seeds on a low flame for about 2 minutes till they release a nutty aroma. Cool for another 5 minutes. Garnish the salad with the toasted sesame seeds and serve!

Cheat's Kimchi Salad Up Close!

Clear Vegetable Soup

Winter is almost in the air and no other food best suits winter than a warm, comforting bowl of soup. This clear vegetable soup is an easy-to-make, light and flavourful accompaniment  for your winter evenings. 

Hot Clear Vegetable Soup

Clear Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

6-8 garlic cloves finely chopped

2 green chillies finely chopped

1 litre vegetable stock

6-7 leaves of cabbage sliced into 1 inch squares

6-7 leaves of spinach sliced into 1 inch squares

1 medium sized carrot sliced into thin round slices

1/2 tsp black pepper powder

Salt to taste

How to cut the vegetables

Method

In a deep pan heat the oil. Add in the finely chopped garlic and fry till it turns golden brown.

The colour of the garlic when done

Now the chopped green chillies go in and are fried for about 30 seconds. Add in the vegetable stock, cover and cook with a lid on simmer for about 10-15 minutes so that the flavours of the garlic and chillies seep through the stock really well.  

Flavours of garlic and chillies seeping into the vegetable stock

Remove the lid and add in the vegetables in this order:

First the carrots because they take some time to cook...

Carrots go in first

After about a minute, the cabbage leaves

Next, the cabbage goes in

At the end, add in the spinach leaves, season with salt and pepper and let the spinach leaves cook for about 30 seconds only. 

The Clear Vegetable Soup

Serve smoking hot right from the pot!

Tea Week 3: Types of Tea

The story of the journey of the tea impacts its colour and flavour. As I promised in my last post, here are the types of teas based on the steps in the production process.

The Journey and the Type of Tea

Here is a quick infographic on the production process of each of the three types of tea commonly found in India.

Tea Week 2: Tea Production

Having spoken of the Legends about the Discovery of Tea, I will finally come back to what my original topic was for the first post of the Tea Week: Tea Production. How is it that the fresh tea leaf is transformed into the fragrant ones stored in our homes? What gives green tea a unique flavour from black tea or white tea? All of these answers lie in the way these teas are processed. The process of tea production has the following steps:


1. Plucking 

Tea Plucking

Tea plucking happens twice a year during early spring and late spring or early summer. There can be autumn plucking as seen in Darjeeling teas from some estates as the climate permits it. During quality periods like First Flush or Second Flush, a terminal bud and two leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) are plucked whereas during other periods even three to four leaves can be plucked. Plucking can be done by machines but is preferably done by hand when good quality tea is being processed.


2. Withering

Withering the Tea Leaves

The tea leaves begin to wilt as soon as they're plucked. Don't worry it is a desirable thing! It is the beginning to the oxidation process that is going to give tea its flavour. Withering can be done in many ways. Tea leaves can be put under the sun to dry and wither. Another popularly used method is use 'withering troughs' which are about 6 inches deep. Fans are installed to pass air over the green leaf while it withers. This process can take 18-24 hours. This process removes the moisture content of the leaf so that it can withstand the pressure of rolling.


3. Rolling

Rolling the Tea Leaves

Rolling is the process by which the withered tea leaves are shaped into strips either by hand or by a machine with light pressure. This breaks the cells of the tea leaf causing sap and juices to ooze out and add flavour to the tea. The type of rolling depends on the type of tea, for example in oolong tea, the rolled strips of tea are rolled further into spheres or half spheres.


4. Fermentation/ Oxidation

Fermentation of Tea Leaves

Fermentation is the process that allows the leaves to darken to a desired colour. The rolled tea leaves are stored in climate controlled conditions that are carefully controlled. This process causes the enzymes to break down and releases the tannins giving tea its characteristic flavour. This fermentation process can take up to 3 to 4 hours depending on the type of the tea again.




5.  Drying 

Drying to Produce the Final Tea

Drying produces the final tea that is ready for consumption and sale. This process can also be known as firing based on the particular technique used. Generally, the tea leaves are dried using baking. In green tea, drying is the most important step of adding flavour to the tea leaves.






There are many additional steps in the production of tea that are unique to the type of tea produced. These steps give the tea their characteristic colour or flavour. While producing yellow tea sweltering is used to turn the leaves yellow from green whereas some teas are aged further after drying to give them more flavours. Stay tuned for more details on these on my blog post tomorrow which will be about the 'Types of Teas'!





References

http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/black-tea-production

http://www.nathmulltea.com/manufacturing.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_processing



Images 

Tea plucking: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/Northeast/Sikkim/Ravangla/photo1088946.htm

Tea Withering: http://www.bigelowteablog.com/tag/tea-plantation/

Tea Rolling http://www.natureproducts.net/Puer_Tea/Banzang.html

Tea Fermentation http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/5497827

Tea Drying http://www.flickr.com/photos/myragoodrich/294337502/

Tea Week 1: Legends About the Discovery of Tea

I can't believe it has been so many months since I have been blogging, but I have not come around to writing much about tea. Tea is my go-to  beverage for anything and everything. Teas can be soothing and calming and at the same time refreshing and rejuvenating. Coffee has a good buzz and I occasionally drink it when I need a buzz, like on Monday mornings. But my preferred cuppa is always a cup of tea. Since, I have not written much about my preferred cuppa till date, I am dedicating a whole week on my blog to tea.

Today, I was going to write about origins of tea: a basic history and the journey of tea from the green leaf of the plant to our kitchens ready to be brewed. As I was reading up on the legends, I realised that there are so many fascinating legends surrounding tea, its discovery and history. It is difficult to choose one and go with it, so I have changed my post today to just talk about these legends.

1. Indian Legends

Firstly, let me talk about what the history of tea has been in our country. The documented evidence regarding tea drinking in India has been recorded in the Ramayana and dates back to B.C. 750.

Ramayana: Earliest Documented Evidence of Tea Drinking in India
Image courtesy: http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/features/2003/04/ramnavmi_02.shtml

 In Ayurveda, there is a tradition of using dried herbs such as pudina, mulethi etc for medicinal purposes. The Indian preparation of tea, 'chai' with its milky, sweet taste served as a perfect disguise for these punjent and bitter tasting herbs. This evidence trail however went cold for about a thousand years afterwards.

The legends re-emerged with Buddhist legends. They say that a Buddhist monk, who has been called Dharma Boddhisatva or Bodhidharma, decided to spend seven years without sleeping to contemplate about the teachings of Buddha and about life. In the fifth year of his penance, he almost fell asleep. So, he took some leaves from a nearby plant and chewed on them. The leaves, which were the leaves of a wild tea plant, helped rejuvenate him and thus, tea was discovered.

Legend of Bodhidharma's Meditation and the Discovery of Tea
Image courtesy: http://greenteadoodles.wordpress.com/tag/bodhidharma/

2. Chinese Legends

In Chinese legends, Shen Nong (an emperor, a herbalist, and also called the father of agriculture and herbal medicine) has definitely been credited with the discovery of tea around B.C. 2700. However, things get a little misty from here. There are various stories of how he actually discovered tea.

One story in the ancient Chinese medical book, called The Divine Farmer’s Herb-Root Classic, has it that he would taste about 100 types of plants each day to discover which were edible, medicinal or poisonous. Moreover, legend also has it that he had a transparent belly that would allow him to observed the effects of these plants (not that I believe this part much). When he had tea leaves, he found that these passed through his stomach and intestines, checking for poisons and clearing them out of his system. He called these leaves "Cha" which meant "checking for poisons" and thus tea was discovered. This seems to be an unbelievable legend, especially because of the transparent stomach bit. So, I searched some more and found two more believable stories about Shen Nong and the discovery of tea.

Shen Nong, the falling leaves, and the discovery of tea
Image courtesy: http://www.china.org.cn/learning_chinese/Chinese_tea/2011-07/15/content_22999489.htm

One story has it that Emperor Shen Nong insisted on drinking boiled water for hygiene purposes. Once when he was on a trip to distant regions of his empire, his party halted to rest. As per his preference, his servants started boiling water for his consumption when a few leaves carried by the wind, fell into the boiling water. They went unnoticed and the water was drunk by Shen Nong who found the beverage rejuvenating. This is the legend of discovery of tea by Shen Nong. In another version of this story, it is said that Shen Nong took a rest under a tree after a long walk and lit a fire to boil water. Some leaves of a tea plant fell into this water and rejuvenated him after having tasted 100 plants the day before. Shen Nong believed that he had discovered a medicinal plant that can help a person think quicker, sleep less, move lighter, and see clearer.

These versions are quite Newtonian, I must say!


3. Japanese Legend 

The Japanese legend about the discovery of tea talks of the same Buddhist monk Bodhidharma as the Indian legend. However, this version is a little more gruesome. According to this legend, Bodhidharma who had taken the vow to meditate and not sleep for seven years (some versions say nine years, either ways it is a long time!) ended up actually falling asleep. He woke up and was disgusted and angry at himself for falling asleep. This led to him chopping his eyelids off. These fell to the ground and the first tea plant grew there!

Bodhidharma of the Japanese Legend about the Discovery of Tea
Image Courtesy: http://jp-planet.blogspot.in/2012/12/zen-gets-serious-bodhidharma.html

4. Korean Legend

According to the Korean legend, King Suro was one of the six princes born of an egg that descended from the sky. He married an Indian princess Heo Hwang-ok who brought with her a boatful of dowry. One of the gifts she got was tea seeds. And thus, tea came to Korea., from India.

King Suro and Queen Heo Hwang-ok
Image courtesy: http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?/topic/9807-koreas-indian-queen/

References 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea#cite_note-Macfarlane-4

http://www.tea.in/history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_tea_culture

http://www.tching.com/2012/03/legends-on-the-origins-of-tea-from-china-japan-and-korea/

http://www.dethlefsen-balk.de/ENU/10730/Legend_of_Tea.html