Creamy, Strong Chai: Karak Chai

Here in the U.S., when we hear the word "chai," we think of tea prepared with some sort of spice component. The thing is, on the Indian Subcontinent, the word "chai" simply means "tea." This chai is different from what most people would think of as "regular" chai; that is, "spiced tea" (masala chai) on the Indian Subcontinent, or at your local cafe down the street,* as it is a stronger brew of tea (with higher caffeine content), which is the actual meaning of "karak chai" (also "kadak"), "strong tea." It is common in India, Pakistan, the Gulf region of the Middle East (brought there by Indian immigrants), especially in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, but there are variations in recipes. This tea uses a rather high proportion of whole milk or evaporated milk, which makes it thick and creamy, and it tends to be modestly flavored by some spices, but it is cooked for a somewhat longer time. "Karak chai" is generally something of a tan color up to something more of a brown or an orangish brown color. Some add a few saffron threads, but this addition is far more common in the Gulf region of the Middle East. 

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) water

5 teaspoons black tea

4 or 5 teaspoons sugar 

1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

3 whole cloves

1 1/2 inch cinnamon stick

4 crushed cardamom pods

2 slightly crushed whole peppercorns  

(optional) good pinch of saffron threads

Add the water to a pot/pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, then adjust the heat to maintain a steady gentle simmer. Add the cloves, crushed cardamom, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, sliced ginger,  and, if using, saffron threads; simmer for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the tea and stir and keep stirring at a light, steady pace as the tea simmers; about another 3 minutes. Add the milk and sugar, stir further to mix and to dissolve the sugar. When the tea is heated again, strain it into individual cups. Note: This tea is supposed to be sweet, but you can add sugar to the pan in some basic amount, but then have the sugar bowl nearby for those who like their chai sweeter. 

 

 

* For "chai," here is the link:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/08/chai-pronounced-like-cheye.html

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Mere-There are noun forms of the same spelling, but this is the adjective (and the derived adverb, "merely"), and the noun forms are unrelated to the adjective. The origin of this word is uncertain, but it seems to go back to Indo European "merh-o,"^ which meant "remaining (the same);" thus, "pure, unaltered." This gave Latin "merus" (via Italic "mero"), meaning "unaltered, unmixed, pure;" thus also, "real."^^ This gave Latin-based Old French "mier," also meaning "pure;" thus also, "total, complete," and English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1300s, initially with the meaning "pure, clear (of sound), unaltered," and then "absolute, sheer;" thus, "simply, only." The adverb "merely" developed in the mid 1400s meaning "of nothing more, only, solely."     

^ Some believe "mere" goes back to Indo European "mer," meaning "gleaming, shining," but I'm not convinced.

 

^^ See "Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages" (Volume 7 of the Leiden Indo-European Etymological Series, by Michiel de Vaan, Brill (Publishing), Leiden (Netherlands), Boston (U.S.), 2008. 

Indian Ginger Chai

This is NOT ginger tea; that is, ginger boiled in water to make a tea, rather this is black tea with ginger added as an ingredient and the ginger gives the tea a little kick. You can adjust the amount of tea to your own taste preferences, but I like pretty strong tea. Some Indians use a good bit of sugar in this tea (and in spiced chai, called masala chai), and it's too sweet for my taste, so I use less sugar. Ginger tea is common in India, and "I assume" it is also prepared in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but I don't know that to be a fact or to what degree it might be prepared in any of these countries. 

 

Ingredients (2 to 3 servings):

 

3 teaspoons black tea leaves or 3 or 4 tea bags

1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

3 cardamom pods, cracked or slit open, or ground up

2 cups water

1/3 cup milk (or to preference) 

4 teaspoons sugar 

In a pan, add the water, ginger and cracked cardamom pods, bring to a boil and adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the sugar and gently stir for about 1 minute to dissolve the sugar. Add the tea and simmer another 4 minutes, for strong tea, or just 2 minutes, for milder tea. Add the milk and stir to mix; simmer another 2 minutes, strain the tea into cups. Serve with cookies, cake or something more to the savory Indian side, like samosas. Samosas are pastries stuffed with potatoes and various seasonings, and you can get them at any Indian or Pakistani restaurant (hopefully you have one or more nearby), and they are common throughout the Indian Subcontinent. They are often served with some type of chutney.

WORD HISTORY:

Sparse-This adjective (and adverb, as "sparsely") is related to the main part of "disperse," a Latin derived word borrowed by English from that language, to "spore," a type of reproductive element of some fungi and some plants and other organisms, a word English borrowed from Latin, which had borrowed it from Greek, and it is distantly related to "spread," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Sparse" goes back to Indo European "sper," which meant "to scatter," with the extended form "spreg/sperg," meaning "to scatter about, to strew, to sow (seed)," and this gave Old Italic "sparg," which gave Latin "spargere," meaning "to scatter (about), to shower or sprinkle, to strew," and a participle form of which was "sparsus," meaning "scattered, strewn about;" thus also, "speckled, spotted, spread about." English borrowed the word from Latin "sparsus" at some point between circa 1730 and circa 1750 (tough to pin this down).  

Malaysian Ginger Tea: Teh Halia

Ginger tea is a delightfully flavorful drink. There are variations to the recipe I have below that sweeten the tea with sugar or honey and then milk is added instead of sweetened condensed milk. I add orange peel and whole or ground cloves (which is perhaps a Chinese influence?), but that is something you can leave out if you prefer. You can certainly use more sweetened condensed milk if you like a sweeter drink. And make no mistake, there are also other variations. It is a beverage served in Malaysia and in Singapore.

 

Serve with cake, bread and jam or sandwiches.

Ingredients (2 servings of 6 ounces each):

2 teabags of black tea or 2 teaspoons loose tea (I add 2 1/2 teaspoons, I like stronger tea)

12 ounces water

1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced 

2 pieces fresh orange peel 1 inch each (1/2 inch wide)

2 cloves or a pinch of ground cloves

2 teaspoons sweetened condensed milk, 1 teaspoon for each cup, plus more to preference

Add the water and the sliced ginger to a pan. Bring the water to a steady simmer and simmer the sliced ginger for 10 minutes. At the 5 minute mark, add the black tea, orange peel and cloves. At the 10 minute mark, remove from the heat and let set for about 1 minute. Strain and add sweetened condensed milk to taste. 

 

  Malaysian ginger tea with sliced Portuguese roll and blackberry jam ...

 

WORD HISTORY:

Pumice-This word is related to "spumoni," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from Italian, and to "foam," a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to the Indo European root "(s)poih-," seemingly meaning "froth, foam." This gave Latin "pumex," meaning "porous, low density rock formed from bubble-filled solidified volcanic lava;" thus, sort of "frothy rock." This then became "pomex" (accusative: "pomicem") and this passed to Latin-based Old French as "pomis," with the same meaning. English borrowed the word in the early 1400s from Anglo-French, the French dialect that developed among French speakers in England in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest.    

Middle Eastern Black Tea & Sage

Tea is a common drink in area of the Middle East and North Africa. This black tea and sage is pretty common in parts of the western Middle East, including part of Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. I like tea and I like sage, so this is a drink made for me.

 

Ingredients (per serving):

1 teaspoon black tea (or 1 teabag)

3 or 4 sage leaves (or 1 heaping teaspoon crumbled dried sage leaves, NOT rubbed sage)

1 cup boiling water

honey(or sugar)

Bring the water to a boil in a pan. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the tea and the sage leaves. Cover the pan and allow the tea to sit for about 3 1/2 to 5 minutes, depending upon how strong you like your tea. Add honey (or sugar) to sweeten the tea to your preference. (Note: some people add the sweetener, typically sugar, right in the pan to dissolve as the water heats up.)

 

Milder tea (reddish in color) ...

Darker and stronger tea...

 

WORD HISTORY:

Algebra-When I was in school, "algebra" was like a dirty word; in fact, I'd have rather said, "heck," "darned" or "dang it," than utter the word "algebra." The word "algebra" was borrowed into English in the mid 1500s from the Latin word of the same spelling. Latin had borrowed the word in the 1100s with the Latin translation from Arabic of transliterated, "al-mukhtasar fi hisab al-jabr wa al-muqabala" (The Compendium of Calculation by Restoration and Balancing," which has other translations^). Transliterated "al-jabr," a noun, is from the verb "jabara," meaning, "to set, to restore," from Semitic "jbr/gbr," meaning,  "to become strong, to strengthen;" thus also, "to gain, to triumph."

  

^ By the way, the book also helped immensely in the adoption of Arabic numbers into Europe, an adoption that gradually replaced the use of Roman numerals as the main way to write and display numbers.

Tibetan Butter Tea: Po Cha

"Butter Tea" is a common beverage in Tibet, a region of the northern side of the Himalayan Mountains, designated as an "autonomous region" of China. The region has plains, but even these areas are at high elevations, and the climate is low humidity, breezy in many parts, with cold winters and relatively mildy summers (temperatures in the 80s F are considered "hot"). 

 

This is a "creamier" version of butter tea, as many recipes use primarily water with little milk. "Pu-erh" tea is commonly used, but Russian Caravan black tea is said to be a good substitute for this, although I've not tried it in this recipe,* or you can just use your favorite black tea. "Traditionalists" simmer the tea for hours to make a tea concentrate. To serve, they then add very hot water (and sometimes a measure of milk), and they churn it in a wooden churn (a chandong) with chunks of yak butter until it's very creamy. Nowadays, some people use electric blenders instead of the wooden churns. Because they make this very strong concentrate, they can dilute the concentrate with 3 or 4 times the amount of fresh water. Not all Tibetans use milk or cream, but the butter and the churning still give the tea a creamy texture. Likewise, not everyone uses sugar, but I prefer sugar in my butter tea, and I actually use more sugar than I use in regular tea. I streamline things by using more milk, with far less cooking time involved. Because I use more milk, I've found that using a blender doesn't really do much for the tea, so I simply stir the tea well. Now, if you do not use milk or cream, I would suggest using a blender to mix the butter in very well, and it also gives the tea a little more body. One other thing, unless you're in Tibet, I have a feeling you don't have a neighborhood yak butter shop, but you can use regular butter. I use salted butter, but I also add some salt to the tea, because it is supposed to have a bit of a salty taste.   

Ingredients (3 to 4 servings):

 

2 tablespoons black tea

2 cups water 

1 cup milk (I use evaporated canned milk, not sweetened condensed milk)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (optional, but I suggest first trying the tea without sugar and then deciding)

2 tablespoons salted butter

 

Bring the water to a boil in a heavy bottom sauce pan and add the tea. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle, steady simmer for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the milk, continue to simmer the tea for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir well, then add butter and simmer until it melts and stir well (or whisk). Remove the tea from the heat and strain it into small cups or into a tea pot. 

 

* "Pu-erh" is a fermented tea from China that is available in some tea and coffee shops and Asian stores, and it is easily available online. It is usually described as "earthy," a description I find appropriate. For some, pu-erh could prove to be an acquired taste. Russian Caravan tea has a smoky smell and taste, and it is much more readily available in tea and coffee shops, and in some supermarkets. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Callus-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, although there are relatives in other Indo European languages (for example: Old Irish "calad" and Welsh "caled," both meaning "hard," and both are Celtic languages, and Russian "kalit," meaning "to heat, to roast" (application of heat to "harden"), Serbo-Croatian "kaliti" meaning "to temper metal (to harden it)" (Russian and Serbo-Croatian are Slavic languages).^ It is far from certain that the word "callus" is even of Indo European origin, although an Indo European root of "kal" + the suffix "no" have been proposed and meaning "hard," from Indo European "kel(he)," with "kal," seemingly from the notion of applying heat to harden. This gave Italic "kaln" or "kaln-so," with the same meaning. This gave Latin the noun "callum," meaning, "thick hardened skin;" thus, "animal hide," and this produced the noun "callus," a word borrowed by English from Latin in the mid 1500s. Latin "callum" also produced the adjective "callosus," meaning, "relating to hard, thick skin," and this was borrowed into English in the early 1400s as ''callous,'' but the meaning was more about "hardened in emotions;" thus, "unfeeling," a secondary meaning in its Latin ancestor.

 

^ See "The Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages," by Michiel de Vaan, Brill (Publishing), Leiden (The Netherlands) and Boston, 2008  

Thai Iced Tea

This iced tea is transliterated as "Cha Yen" in Thai, a language of the Tai Kadai language family (also known as Kra Dai languages) of southeastern Asia. Use black tea for this recipe and the tea should be fairly strong, as the ice will dilute the tea. Real loose leaf "Thai tea" is available in some supermarkets and Asian stores, and from what I understand, most, if not all, brands contain the food dye that gives the tea its "orangish" color. I've tried to duplicate the color by using regular red and yellow food coloring, but it didn't work. Understand, the dye doesn't really change the taste of the tea; it just alters the color, and certain types of food dye makes some people uneasy about health side effects. Of course the sight of food does influence our perceptions, and if you've bought Thai tea in bottles or cans, it has the orange color to it. Also, chances are, if you've ordered Thai tea in a Thai restaurant, it likely had the orange color. When I first made the tea, I added some red and some yellow food coloring (just regular food coloring), but it didn't really make the tea orange in color. Now I don't use food coloring very often, so I thought my coloring might have been  in the kitchen cabinet too long, so I went out and bought some fresh food coloring, which was also another brand from what I'd had. I made the tea again, but the food coloring just didn't do it. No matter the color, Thai iced tea is sweet and sort of creamy.   

Ingredients (per cup):

1 tablespoon black tea
1 cup + of boiling water
2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon sugar
dash of vanilla
(optional) red/yellow food coloring
ice cubes or crushed ice

In a pan, bring the tea and water for whatever amount you are making to a simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the tea steep for 15 minutes. Strain the tea into a large dish or a large cup (whatever can hold the amount you've made, and remember, it needs to be able to hold HOT liquid) and add the sugar, the vanilla (just a drop or two per cup only) and the sweetened condensed milk, then stir to dissolve the sugar and mix the ingredients. You can also try food coloring at this time, if you'd like (good luck!). Let the tea cool for about 10 minutes, then fill each glass about 2/3 of the way with crushed ice (about half way, if using ice cubes), and pour in the tea. Add the canned evaporated milk on top. Best to use a straw for drinking. I read 20 to 25 recipes for Thai iced tea, and some people drizzle in both the sweetened condensed milk and the evaporated milk, leaving a bottom layer of the dark tea. Other people whisk the tea to give it some froth. 
  

WORD HISTORY:
Chest-This word is closely related to "cistern," a word borrowed from Latin-based French, and Latin  borrowed it from Greek. "Chest" goes back to Indo European "kisteh," which meant, "container of woven twigs;." thus, "basket." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "kiste," meaning, "basket, box." Latin borrowed the word as "cista," meaning, "box, chest (having a hinged top);" thus also, "casket." It was borrowed by Germanic in the 3rd Century as "kistah," with the same meaning. This later gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) both "cest" (box, chest) and "cist" (casket, chest), which melded into "cheste," before the modern version. By the second half of the 1300s, the word also began to be used for "upper torso," from the idea, "protective box for the upper torso," which gradually began to replace "breast" as the word for the upper torso (German still uses their form of the word breast, "Brust," with that meaning). Relatives in the Germanic languages: German "Kiste" (box, chest, crate), Low German "Kist" (chest, box, casket), West Frisian "kiste" (chest, crate, box), Dutch "kist" (box, chest, casket), Swedish "kista" (casket, chest), Danish and Norwegian "kiste" (chest, crate), Icelandic "kista" (chest, trunk).