tales of Suchita

I have had 1, 2, 3, 4…9 people telling me that I make an excellent cup of tea. Yes, they may be friends or family but being tea connoisseurs, if they say they enjoy the tea I make, there’s some truth in it. So today, gird your loins because I’m going to teach you how to make tea – Suchita style.

Before we begin, remember making chai like me is a sensory and mathematical experience. You need your math skills for measuring and your senses to intuit when your tea is done.

Step 1: Know your tools

When making tea, use the same tools. This makes repeatability easier. Ideally, use a stainless-steel pan because it does a better job of brewing the tea leaves. Use similar sized cups so your water measurement doesn’t go haywire. Use the same spoon to measure your chai patti and sugar. Any changes will result in changes in taste.

Step 2: Chai and chini ka hisaab

The kind of tea leaves you use makes a huge difference on the type of flavours your tea will have. Most of us use the tea leaves our parents use. Mom learnt from her mother and my nani used to make her tea combining the leaves from Yellow Label and Green Label which basically means there were small leaves and long leaves.

On a side note, long leaves have a bitter flavour and small leaves have a delicate flavour. When you combine them, you get what I call chai ka flavour. Hence, we use Tata Tea Gold because it is a pre-packed combination of long and small leaves.

Sugar sweetness varies depending on how big your sugar granules are. So, you need to know how much sugar you want to add as per your taste buds.

Step 3: Measuring water

As my friend very poetically put it, my chai is the perfect combination of water, milk, chai patti and sugar. How much water you put for boiling is essential to balance this equation.

If you’re making 4 cups of tea, use the same cup you’ll be pouring the tea in to measure the water. If you’re using different sized cups, use all cups to measure water. No one wants half a cup of tea in a mug-sized cup. The water you add should be about half an inch less from the cup’s rim. Any more and you’ll have too much water and any less, your tea won’t be enough.

Contrary to what people usually do, 3.5 cups won’t work. You need 4 cups of water for making 4 cups of tea.

Step 4: Boil the water before dropping in the chai patti

If you want to add ginger or cloves, do it before you put the water for boiling. Putting it later will mean that the ginger/clove will not cook properly in the water.

Now comes the most difficult part. Waiting for the water to boil. It can take anywhere from 5-7 minutes depending on how much water you have put. I usually carry my Kindle in the kitchen to distract me from looking at the water and willing it to come to a boil.

When I say boil, I mean the water needs to be frothing before you add your tea leaves. I use half a teaspoon of patti for every cup. So, 2 full teaspoons for 4 cups.

PS: when you put the tea leaves in a pan of frothing water, the water will rise. If your pan doesn’t have space, lower the flame before you put the tea leaves.

Step 5: Let the leaves brew

I like my tea to taste of tea – not of sugar or milk. So, you will need to let the tea leaves boil in the water for at least a minute. 2 minutes would be ideal. This is where your senses come into play. You should pay attention to how the ingredients of the pan smell. If it smells like tea (a sharpish, earthly smell), then you know your brewing is done.

Don’t forget to stir the leaves in the water once or twice.

Step 6: Add the milk and sugar

Now, this may seem like I’m being facetious but it is important you follow this: milk first, then sugar. Add milk. I don’t have a measurement for this because I usually put milk until the colour of the tea becomes the colour of walnut.

Stir to make sure there’s enough milk. Now, you may add the sugar. As a friend of a friend said once, the sugar needs to cook with the tea otherwise the tea and sugar taste separate.

Stir some more. And then let it boil on high flame till the tea colour turns into the brown colour of an almond. Once again, use your nose. You should smell the sharpness of tea, the sweetness of sugar and the creaminess of milk.

Step 7: Rest before pouring

Once your boiling tea passes the nose (smell) and eye (colour) test, switch off the gas and let it sit for about 30 seconds before you pour it into the cups.

Your tea – Suchita style – is now ready.

I understand I just spend more than 900 (!) words telling you how to make something as simple as tea. But, making good tea ensures you’re never asked to wash utensils or help clean the kitchen at sleepovers, or sit and make awkward small talk with a guest while someone else is making chai.

And if you’re a tea drinker, making tea that you love drinking is a measure of self-care that is incomparable.

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This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2024