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.    

Kashmiri Pink Tea: Noon Chai

 "Noon" chai, also spelled "nun," is also called "Kashmiri Chai," and Kashmiris commonly have it with breakfast and again at afternoon tea, and at times in the evening.

 

Use a brand of green tea with no added ingredients like mint, vanilla, or bergamot (bergamot is a citrus fruit and an additive to Earl Grey black and green teas). Any good Chinese, Indian or Ceylon green tea should work well, and I tried three different types of green tea, but there were differences in the "pinkness" for each type. It seems the pink color is just for fun, because the taste of the tea is not really changed by how pink the tea is (at least in my opinion). In Kashmir they use Kashmiri green tea leaves, which have the unique name of "Kashmiri green tea leaves." hahaha What, you thought they'd use Argentine tea leaves, or "hojas de té argentino," which means, "Argentine tea leaves?" Wow, Argentina uses another unique name. 

 

There are variations to make Kashmiri chai, with some people using several spices, but I've just used green cardamom pods, which are available in spice shops and in some supermarkets, and you need to crush them a little to allow the flavor to be infused into the tea during brewing (although you can leave the shell on). Some people use ground cardamom, a small cinnamon stick and some cloves, as well as some saffron strands, and even star anise. Understand, not all Kashmiri chai includes all of these spices, as they are used according to individual preferences. Kashmiris simmer the tea for quite awhile to make a "tea concentrate," although again, the cooking process can vary as to how much water and milk is added and how long the tea is cooked. Once the cooking process is complete, salt and often some sugar are then added for serving, sometimes along with some chopped pistachios and chopped almonds. I want to note here, I prefer to add some sugar, as well as a little salt to this tea, but it's my understanding that it is common for Kashmiris to just add salt. The tea is often served with flatbreads specific to the Kashmir region.

 

Ingredients (4 smaller servings, 2 larger servings):

 

2 1/2 tablespoons green tea leaves

2 cups water, to start, then another 2 cups

(optional) 4 or 5 saffron strands

6 to 8 cardamon pods, crushed

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups milk

For serving:

more salt, to taste, if desired

(optional) sugar, to taste

crushed pistachios and/or sliced almonds  

In a pan, let 2 cups water come to a boil, then stir in the green tea, cardamom pods, and baking soda (optionally also the saffron). Reduce the heat to keep the tea at a steady simmer, while stirring frequently, almost constantly. Simmer until only about 1/4 of the water remains, then add 2 more cups of cold fresh water to the tea. Increase the heat again until the tea returns to a boil, then as before, reduce the heat and keep the tea at a steady simmer. Let the liquid cook down again, but this time until 1/2 of the liquid remains, then add the milk. Let the tea return to a simmer and continue to simmer it for a total of about 12 to 15 minutes, by which time it should cook down a bit again. Serve with a pinch of salt, some sugar, if desired, and some added crushed pistachios and/or almonds.    

 

 With some crushed pistachios and almonds ...

WORD HISTORY:

Cardamom-The ultimate origins of the parts of this compound word are unknown. It seems likely the word "cardamom" is a blending and overlapping of "cardamon" and the similar "amomon." "Cardamom" goes back to transliterated Ancient Greek "kárdamomon," which seems to be a word that combined 1) transliterated "kárdamon," a word of unknown origin (although see more below), but which meant "cress," a type of spicy plant (with many actual variations), and 2) transliterated "amomon," another word of uncertain origin (some believe it to be from China or elsewhere in Asia), but which seems to have been applied to the black cardamom plant. The word "kárdamon" "may have" come out of one or more of the languages of southwestern Asia, including Hittite from Anatolia (essentially now Turkey, but before the Turks arrived there). Latin borrowed the Greek compound "kárdamomon" as "cardamomum," which by then meant "cardamom," in general, including both the black and green types, which are both from the "ginger family," but each from its own genus and both have pods containing seeds used as a seasoning. The Latin form "cardamomum" passed to Latin-based French as "cardamome," and English borrowed the word in the mid 1500s, likely from Latin, but perhaps popularized by French culinary usage.     

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). 

"Chai" Spiced Tea: Masala Chai

Updated slightly 10-3-22

Chai is a type of spiced tea drink, usually black tea, brewed with spices, milk and sweetener. It is pronounced like "ch," as in Charles, and 'eye,' the organ of sight. Chai is highly common in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and in these countries it is often called "masala chai," from the mixture of spices used to make it (the word 'chai' itself simply means 'tea'). I tend to make a large cup (like a mug of about 16 to 20 ounces) of chai, so this is the recipe for that amount. You can adjust the ingredient amounts according to the amount of chai you want to make. This is my recipe version of chai.   

Ingredients:

16 ounces of water (some water will boil off)1 1/2 tablespoons loose black tea *
1/2 inch piece of ginger, chopped or grated
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (or 5 or 6 cardamom pods, crushed to release their flavor)
1 teaspoon ground cloves (or 2 whole cloves)
1 cinnamon stick (about 3 inches)
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup milk (I use canned evaporated milk, see note *)
1 tablespoon honey
sugar to taste (I use about three teaspoons, see note *) 

Stir the loose tea into the water, along with the ginger, cardamon, ground cloves, cinnamon stick, mace and black pepper. Heat to just boiling, then reduce heat to a bare simmer. Brew for three minutes, then add the milk and stir. Bring back to a bare simmer and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steep for about 2 minutes. Strain the tea, and then add the honey and sugar, stirring to mix and dissolve. Serve. 

* When I began making chai years ago, I experimented with the type and amount of black tea, and the amounts of the other ingredients I used. My suggestion is that you do likewise, using this recipe as a guide the first time, and then making adjustments if you feel they are needed the next time you make it. Also, I like strong tea, so bear that in mind as to the amount of black tea I used in this recipe (see note at end). I also used East Frisian tea from Germany, because it has a strong flavor, as it is made from "Assam" tea leaves; a type of tea grown in India and typically used there for masala chai; otherwise, I use a brand of American black tea in teabags for a regular, non-chai, cup of tea. If you use regular black tea, it likely will not be as strong, so keep that in mind, for your own taste preference. As for sugar, my experience in Indian restaurants is that the chai is very sweet (and I'm sweet enough). My guess is, they don't use any honey, as I do, but they likely add "at least" two or three tablespoons of sugar for this amount of tea, and perhaps more. Once the tea simmers for awhile, evaporation and the amount absorbed, and retained, by the tea leaves will lessen the amount of actual chai you end up with, which will be "about" 16 ounces for the amount of this recipe, and this is about what you would think of as three regular cups of tea, so the three teaspoons of sugar is not out of line, but the one tablespoon of honey helps to further sweeten the tea, but without going quite to the "restaurant" level of sweetness. Also with the milk, from what I understand from Indian restaurants and people from India and Pakistan I've met over the years, the amount of milk used in their own countries is generally about 1/3 to 1/2 of the amount of water, but I have cut down on the milk. For many years, I did not add black pepper, but then I gave it a try and I liked it, so now I always add it (many in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh also add black pepper).  Note: There is a "modified" type of chai called "karak chai" or "kadak chai," which means "strong tea." It is similar, but often with more tea and longer simmering time to give it a stronger flavor and higher amount of caffeine. Here is the link to this type of chai: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2022/10/creamy-strong-chai-karak-chai.html

My big mug of chai, with some gingersnaps

WORD HISTORY:
Pundit-This word goes back to Sanskrit ^ "panditah," which had the notion of "learned man, teacher." ^^ Where Sanskrit got the word is unknown, but the Sanskrit form gave Hindi ^^^ "pandit," with the meaning, "a learned man of the Hindu religion, who interprets the Hindu religion;" thus also, "a Hindu religious philosopher." The word was borrowed into English as, "pandit/pundit," in the second half of the 1600s, as a result of British commercial involvement in India by the (English/British) East India Company. The meaning in English later gradually broadened to today's meaning of, "a supposed authority on a subject who comments and/or offers criticism on that subject."    

^ Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India. It is related to English, but much further down the family tree.

^^ In English there are two words spelled "l-e-a-r-n-e-d." First there is the past tense form of the verb "to learn," which is pronounced as if, "lernd" (see note). Then there is "learned," pronounced as if "lern-ed," with the "ed" pronounced like the shortened form of Edward, and meaning, "the result of having learned (the first form) a particular subject or field." It is "sometimes" written as "learnèd," with the accent mark over the "e." NOTE: The past tense form, "learned," is also spelled and pronounced "learnt," especially in Britain, but it is often pronounced that way elsewhere, including in the United States, where it would NOT be considered as proper. I kind of imagine American English purists cringing every time they hear a person from England use "learnt," and I'm not kidding about this. Some take these things VERY seriously.

^^^ Hindi is from the overall "Indo-Iranian" branch of the Indo European languages, and is, therefore, related to English, but much further down the family tree. Hindi is the official language of government in India, along with.....English!

Tea Time

Expanded a bit on 12-27-2015 and photo added, as well as a little editing on 8-19-21

Tea drinking apparently goes back at least 4500 to 5000 years in China. It wasn't until the mid 1500s that western Europeans came into contact with tea, as the Portuguese settled in Macao (also "Macau") in southeastern China, which remained as a Portuguese colony until 1999! Then Dutch traders established themselves in southeastern Asia in Indonesia in the early 1600s, which later became the Dutch colony "the Dutch East Indies." The mid 1600s brought the marriage of England's King Charles II to a Portuguese princess, who made tea drinking a prominent feature among the nobility. The price of tea in those times was prohibitive for the spread of the drink to those not in the upper classes, but increased trade and involvement in India brought more tea, and lower prices, and sugar, into England. It wasn't long before the British began to sweeten their tea with sugar from the New World and tea drinking became popular with the general population, making tea the national drink. The ancestral homeland of the English (the Anglo-Saxons) is northern Germany, and their close relatives, the Saxons and the Frisians, still inhabit the area. The similar climate to Britain along the North Sea coast of Germany, and the availability of tea from Dutch importers, made tea a popular drink with the Frisian and Saxon population of the area, where tea is still the regional beverage. In the East Frisian part of northern Germany, rock candy is used to sweeten their tea, with some cream carefully layered a bit below the surface. The idea is to provide three distinct tastes: the bitter black tea at the top, the tea/cream mixture in the middle, and then the addition of the sweetness of the melting rock candy near the bottom. The East Frisians are known for their pickiness for black tea and their brands are considered topnotch.

Russians have had a strong attachment to tea going back to the 1600s, although its high price initially limited its availability to the upper classes. Russians traded directly with the Chinese by overland route, organized in caravans. It was quite a trip and "supposedly" the tea acquired a smoky flavor from being near the campfires during its long journey,* a characteristic still common in the most popular form of black tea in Russia, although the flavoring is now added. It is the national beverage of Russia, although vodka drinkers may question that... hic! Hey, I'm a tea drinker, honest!

Chai is a spiced black tea (sometimes green tea) and is my favorite. Chai typically has a lot of milk and sugar, and you can most certainly get it in any Indian or Pakistani restaurant in the U.S. or elsewhere. I make my own, pretty much every day, although I'm sure some Indians might not approve of my recipe or technique, although from what I'm told, there are considerable variations, even in India. Generally chai is black tea in about a 50-50 milk/water mixture, but I use far less milk (I use evaporated milk). When I've bought chai at Indian restaurants, it has always been very sweet, and I make it somewhat less so. I use fresh grated ginger, some ground cardamom, a bit of ground cloves (and often some ground allspice, too), a small bit of mace (or nutmeg), and some ground cinnamon. Some Indians or Pakistanis use black pepper in chai, too, and others use fennel seed. After letting the spices steep for awhile, you can strain the tea into your cup. You can buy tea bags already with a spice mixture in them, but I've never been very impressed with the result. You can also put the ingredients into a pan and gently boil the mixture. In this case, I tend to use a cinnamon stick, rather than ground cinnamon, as well as whole cloves and crushed cardamom seeds. I prefer to add the milk after the cooking is done, but you can cook it right along with the tea. Note: A while back, I also started using black pepper in chai, sometimes ground or sometimes whole crushed peppercorns. It gives the chai that added "zip."  

* It seems a bit of a stretch to me that tea packed for such a trip would acquire the smoky flavor this way. I wonder if at some point some open tea was exposed to the campfire smoke, the users liked it, and they then chose to repeat the process?

 

WORD HISTORY:
Tea-This word comes from a Sino-Tibetan word, "sla/tsla," which likely meant "leaf." Sino-Tibetan is a large language family in Asia and Southeast Asia which is the ancient ancestor of the Chinese dialects, like Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as southeastern Asian languages like Burmese and others. Sino-Tibetan is to these modern Asian languages what Indo European is to English, German, Italian, Russian, etc. Min Nan, a dialect of Sino-Tibetan had "te." Malay, an unrelated language from the Austronesian language family^  in southeastern Asia, borrowed the word from Min Nan as "teh." The Dutch East India Company was a private company granted Asian trade rights by the Dutch government in the early 1600s. The Dutch picked up the word from Malay "teh," rendered in Dutch as "thee," which they then brought back to western Europe, along with a lot of the product itself. English borrowed the word in the mid 1600s as both "tee" and "tea," before finally settling on the latter. Many other European languages borrowed the word from Dutch, for example, German has "Tee" (pronounced "tay"), West Frisian has "tee," French has "thé." Interestingly, the Portuguese had established themselves in southeastern China, at Macao, in the mid 1500s. The Chinese dialect in Macao pronounced their form of Sino-Tibetan "sla/tsla" as "cha." The Portuguese took the term as "chá," which they have retained to this day as their word for "tea." This same Chinese term spread elsewhere, providing forms to Russian and Persian, and from Persian to Hindi and other languages/dialects in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. English borrowed the word, likely from Hindi, as "chai," a term now used more specifically for "sweetened spiced tea." It is pronounced "ch," as in Charles, and "eye."    

^ Hawaiian is from the Austronesian language family, too.