I learned from previous trips that NO ONE makes chai masala like Kalpana. This is the stuff of dreams when I am in the US and anticipating either going to India or Kalpana coming here. Now please, friends who make chai masala for me, I love your tea also, but.....Kalpana's wins hands down. However, being the addict that I am I will not turn down an offer for chai - ever hoping for it to be as good as Kalpana's. On this trip she finally told me why - no water. Pure buffalo milk (lose weight here? HAH) with mint and sometimes masala and ginger. No one wonder I couldn't duplicate it at home.
I knew I was an addict when we were on the train - I became VERY irritated when the chai-wallah would annouce with an unfamiliar cadence: CHAICHAICHAIGARAMCHAI over and over up and down the train aisle. I would eagerly respond CHAI (if you say yes he won't stop - you have to say what they're selling and then they'll stop) and get out my 5 rupee coin only to see him swing out the LIPTON TEA BAG and dispense water with milk into the cup. NO NO NO....(only in my brain) I want the REAL STUFF - where's the REAL STUFF??????
In the first hours of our train ride, sometimes I would get lucky and get the chai masala (brewed tea with milk and spices) and then order 2 or three at a time. There seemed to be no regular schedule that I could count on, and he didn't always say MASALA even when he had it, so I did learn to ONLY respond to the CHAICHAICHAI MASALAGARAMCHAI (listen for the MASALA) and then check for the LIPTON tea bags somewhere on his person so that I wouldn't want to trip him as he went down the aisle with the fake chai.
In New Delhi, Girish would automatically order two or three for me for breakfast (they're small) The waiters began to bring several - with our just saying an abbreviated "chai" for our 5 a.m. departures. If we had the chance - we'd even risk having chai at some dive in a small city (it's boiled) to keep withdrawal at bay. Sometimes it had masala - sometimes it was Lipton......UGH. I began to settle for ANYTHING and would then complain with Kalpana about how bad it was! Did I learn my lesson? Did it keep me from trying anyone else's chai? NO. Such is the addict
My addiction was getting obvious - family, neighbors - everyone seems to have learned that I will do anything for chai - they ask me if I want chai just to see if I'll say CHAI??? YES???? I LOVE CHAI!!!! and then they laugh. They are eager to please the Blonde American Giant Woman and tea is cheap. At the blouse shop - I shocked Kalpana by saying YES to their offer of chai - she had said no - HAH....I am shameless.
Some lovely neighbors invited me to tea - OH HO YES, this is home made tea - it's probably like Kalpana's, huh? She took so long to bring it I had thought we had miscommunicated that I wanted chai. She brought out chevda (you've all seen this snack of flattened rice with dried dal, nuts and spices, right?) grapes, all kinds of nuts; water for everyone - I began to panic - did she forget? did she think I was joking since everyone was teasing me? oh, man - this stuff is spicy and I can't drink the water - should I ask her again for chai? no, that would be rude.
I have only two more days of yummy Kalpana chai. Maybe I should consider a de-tox or weaning process of some kind to avoid mayhem; I'll just have to substitute my VIA coffee I guess (sigh) - it's not the same at all. I've had my two cups of chai (served in real china tea cups and saucers, on a tray) already this morning and I'm counting the hours until tea time - maybe Kalpana will offer some at lunch......so I don't have to wait until 4....or maybe I can talk Vaishalli into stopping for tea when we're out........
Namaste
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