7 ms·

Chai Wallahs of India

155 points by omilu 9y ago

neebz 9y ago
The chai wallahs exist in Pakistan as well and I can relate to many experiences shared in the article. The chai wallah next to our university was a frequent hangout spot. On a related note few months ago a chai wallah from Islamabad got really famous because of his good looks: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/19/blue-eyed-tea-seller-arshad-khan-becomes-social-media-sensation-in-india-and-pakistan https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/19/blue-eyed-tea-...
- somedangedname 9y ago
  Similar to the discovery and subsequent popularity of "Salt Bae": http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/salt-bae?full=1 http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/salt-bae?full=1 Maybe the Internet is ready for "Chai Bae"?
mc32 9y ago
I don't care to know about the gossip or the preferences and peccadilloes of their clients --what interests me about these people (or the "flower vendors" and recyclers in a different way, etc.) of large Asian cities is the perseverance and tenacity of the people to make their own living as meager as it might be. I was taking a $10 equivalent taxi ride late at night the other day, the driver opened his window at a traffic light and bought some fragrant flowers from a woman selling them in the median at the equivalent of $2. I asked why he would buy those flowers, he said essentially, "I made some money, she needs to make her money and I get a fresh car in return". There are poor people for sure, but you will not see too many outright begging --they still offer the dignity of exchange of money for something tangible --even if it's tea-eggs on the corner (or in Mexico people peddling junkfood at major bus stops). We seem to have lost some of that dignity, I think. The only think that comes close are the people who try to push you to buy some panhandler advocacy newsletter --I have not seen them in years and that pub was utterly useless.
- seshagiric 9y ago
  You put it nicely. Its a great enterprise they make, there is always a chai wallah at the railway station, office buildings, construction sites. It is also interesting to note College & university students have a cult following for their chai wallah. When alumni visit their alma matter, a trip to the chai wallah is a must.
  - happy-go-lucky 9y ago
    The same chai wallahs are quite well-off, you may not know. Please wake up :)
    - unlimit 9y ago
      Oh yes, we know of some chai wallahs who make more than the chai drinking IT guys. I know some of them have multiple properties.
      - happy-go-lucky 9y ago
        You are right. Those chai wallahs would laugh away all these comments.
  - happy-go-lucky 9y ago
    There are chai wallahs who rent out their properties to the top IT companies in India. I worked for one such company and regularly had tea with those wallahs. Their shops are still just outside the company's premises :)
  - superasn 9y ago
    Reminds me of the paranthewalla (an Indian bread) and maggiwala outside IIT Delhi who certainly had a huge cult following in 2000. He used to be so popular because he was the only vendor in town open at 3am serving hot paranthas to students. Very enterprising guy.
    - 9y ago
seshagiric 9y ago
Yes, as an Indian living in the US chai is one of the things I miss dearly. Also the chai latte etc. one gets at Starbucks & co are a misnomer, they are no where same as Chai.
- zzalpha 9y ago
  So as a someone who's only experienced chai in North American Indian restaurants or with my best friend's family (who immigrated from Punjab), I'd love to hear what makes the real thing unique and different! Is it richer? Sweeter? Less sweet? More bitter? More spiced? I have no doubt this is a tough question to answer... my understanding is every wallah may have their own masala and so forth. But I'd love to hear your answer!
  - hesarenu 9y ago
    It would be different from place to place. In Bangalore you get a milky thick tea while in my coastal town its more watery liquid. Not a liker of masala tea, don't think its too common down south.
    - zzalpha 9y ago
      Interesting! So down south it'd more commonly be just milky, black tea with sugar?
      - vram22 9y ago
        No, you can get tea flavored with spices (added while making the tea, not during production of the tea leaf), in the south too. Ginger and cardamom are more common though, IME. See my other reply.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
    - nsenifty 9y ago
      It is worth mentioning that coffee is much more popular than tea in Bangalore (and other cities of southern Karnataka) in most middle class joints. However on the streets, tea still rules. Probably because cheaply made tea is more palatable than cheaply made coffee.
sujal99 9y ago
Some health concern about Chai:- 1. Lots of sugar. 2. Use of Aluminium utensils.
- cholantesh 9y ago
  2) is not a valid concern. Unless you are planning to melt the cookware down, trepan yourself and inject the melted aluminum into your brain, you should be fine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11259180 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11259180
factorialboy 9y ago
Fun fact: Current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who incidentally meets President Trump for the first time this week) was a "chai wallah" in his younger days at some train station. The term "chai wallah" was used as a jibe against Modi by senior Congress politician Mani Shankar Iyer but the people of India chose the chai wallah instead of the "crowned prince" of the Nehru-Gandhi family with a thumping majority. Despite being a democracy India has been ruled by the Nehru-Gandhi family (via the Congress Party proxy) for more than 60 years since its independence in 1947.
- v1n337 9y ago
  Factually incorrect. This is not the first time that a non-Congress party has been elected to power in India. The NDA government was in power during 1998–2004, a period including the Kargil war. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party#NDA_government_.281998.E2.80.932004.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party#NDA_gov...) Modi was not a chai-wallah. His father owned an unregistered tea-shop at a railway station. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-official-record-of-Modi-being-tea-seller-RTI-reply/articleshow/46325234.cms http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-official-record-...)
  - chaiwala101 9y ago
    The activist who asked about tea selling asked a fake question. The activist does it all the time. Also, Modi never claimed he was registered to sell tea. Had the Congress government been so proactive in 55 years by mandating registration of tea sellers, India would be much safer, more cleaner, and less corrupt. Fun fact : That activist is from Congress party. Another fun fact : Such activists do not disclose the exact wordings of the RTI query, they intentionally post ambiguous queries and use the reply to create sensational headline. I can challenge any of the Modi haters to share their exact RTI queries before they make sensational headline
    - markdown 9y ago
      > RTI query What's that?
omilu 9y ago
Some great videos of Chai wallahs in action. These guys make my Startbucks barista look like a preschooler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcTjA6Vchq8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcTjA6Vchq8
- twic 9y ago
  There's a very similar procedure, with a different recipe, in Singapore: https://youtu.be/hodOAEzsNWs https://youtu.be/hodOAEzsNWs
syntr0pic 9y ago
Generally I make it for 2-3 people. The following is for one cup. Ingredients: 1 cup Whole Milk 2-3 Cardamom Seeds 1 Cinnamon (Add a small bark, nail length) Raw sugar Breakfast Black Tea (Preferably loose) Suggested Brands: Mumtaz Tea (Loose Black Tea) - Available at Amazon 1. Crush cardamom seeds and cinnamon, preferably with coffee/spice grinder, do not use the powder form, lightly break apart the seeds and bark, a few taps should suffice. 2. Place 1 cup of whole milk and spices into a small pot, simmer milk. 3. Add 1 tablespoon of tea. Note that this measurement may be different depending on brand. If you added too much, you can balance it out by adding more milk. 4. Add raw sugar, start with single teaspoon, add more as necessary 5. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, milk will slow turn khaki, once you start seeing microbubbles, tea is almost ready. 6. Use a tea strainer or sieve Minor note: Many South Asians will add a thin slice of ginger while the milk is simmering. Traditionally served with rusk.
- zzalpha 9y ago
  For folks who want to try this out, other suggestions for things to try in your chai masala include black pepper, clove, and/or star anise
  - eponeponepon 9y ago
    I'd say black pepper is essential - it gives a little bite at the back of the mouth that complements the ginger (also essential! :) ) perfectly. You only want two or three peppercorns though. Star anise is a great occasional addition, but I wouldn't want it every time.
    - nerdy 9y ago
      Wholeheartedly agree. Black pepper is a seemingly strange, but necessary addition. It fills a small gap in the flavor profile between the tea and the spices. My preferred ingredients are cardamom, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, and a very small amount of nutmeg. I like to add 1 part honey for every 2 parts sugar. It's tough to get the perfect ingredient ratio without making large batches or using a scale. Whole milk (or cream) is important for the fat content. In general my chai does not come out as dark as the chai I had in the Pune region, but does have a remarkably similar taste. As I understand it they sometimes make the base the day before. The color difference could be because of my preparation haste, shorter brew time, different ingredients, or adding too much milk/cream. The chai in India also has a different mouthfeel. I'm not sure if it's loose spices in the brew or if they add something but it feels almost like pulverized rice in the tea.
bogomipz 9y ago
What lovely pictures, such a colorful and unique country. In Kolkata the Chai often comes in little clay plots almost like mini flower pots called 'bhar.' They are meant to be disposable. And I saw many people break them on the ground when they were finished with their tea. Here's a nice short read about the tradition if anyone is curious: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/10/kolkata-age-tradition-bhar-clay-cups-tea-161004053736038.html http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/10/kolkata-...
- selimthegrim 9y ago
  In Hindi these are called "kulhaR", and used to be found in railway stations all across British India before 1947.
  - bogomipz 9y ago
    Interesting, I wonder why the tradition is largely confined to West Bengal now?
    - vram22 9y ago
      It's not only in West Bengal. Tea was still sold in kulhars (kulhads) in North India (from say Madhya Pradesh and up north) some years ago when I used to travel more in trains - this was decades after Independence in 1947. Apart from the disposable factor, I guess another reason may be that the clay pot keeps the tea warm for longer - and it can get pretty chilly in North India in winter, though not quite comparable to more northern countries. It even gets quite chilly in say Maharashtra (south of Madhya Pradesh), more in the interior areas away from the coast, in winter.
dctoedt 9y ago
The first time I heard the term chai wallah was in Slum Dog Millionaire — the game show host used it (somewhat disparagingly) to refer to Dev Patel's character.
chaiwala101 9y ago
Here is one method to make Tea: 1 - Take cardamom or ginger or both, and put it in 2 cups of water. ( No need to grind ginger ) 2 - Warm the water till it boils, till 30 minutes. 3 - Add Chai to boiling content & basil leaves. 4 - Wait for 5 more minutes, take out the content, filter out the contents, add honey+ lemon to the filtered content. 5 - Drink.. No milk and no sugar. Do not grind the ginger, this is important, the tea will become too bitter if you grind it.
- captn3m0 9y ago
  30 minutes is a bit too much. Just wait till it boils.
vram22 9y ago
Ha ha, interesting thread, will check out the article too. Coincidentally, I was just reading about Masala Chai, recently, got reminiscent, and and that prompted me to start making and drinking it again, after being a coffee and herbal tea guy for a long time :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai Incidentally, US guys (some of you anyway), it's not called "chai tea", just "chai". Both words mean the same (in Hindi and English respectively), so "chai tea" is redundant. Had heard some American colleagues using the former term in a company I worked at earlier.
vram22 9y ago
Another interesting take on tea (in India) is the rather strong tea you (used to) get at Irani restaurants in India. They boiled it for a long time, is why it was strong. There is a community of Iranians (not Parsis) who had come to India several (maybe a hundred or more) years ago, and settled here. Some of them started a typical (for them) kind of restaurant(s) - with bent rosewood chairs, marble-topped tables, mirrors on the walls, etc. There are (mostly were, now, sadly) a sort of institution in India. College kids, working people - both blue- and white-collar, oldsters meeting to chat and gossip, all kinds used to hang out at those places, have the famous / standard items (apart from their unique take on tea) like bun + butter / brun + maska, omelettes, samosas, khari (a dry baked wafer), etc. The younger generation of them unfortunately didn't want to continue the businesses, plus the restaurants were often situated in central areas in Indian cities, so had high real estate value, so many of them have been closed and the spaces sold to Barista, Pizza Hut and the like. A loss ... Used to hang out regularly at such places in school and college days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irani_caf%C3%A9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irani_caf%C3%A9
- vram22 9y ago
  They were very correct in their dealings, and wouldn't tolerate any crap from anyone - customer, supplier, etc. - would bawl them out immediately (including with curses sometimes), which was part of the charm of going to such places.
ebcase 9y ago
If you're in / near San Francisco and looking for great chai, definitely stop by one of the Chai Cart spots; there are a few on Market: http://www.thechaicart.com/ http://www.thechaicart.com/ (I have no affiliation with them, just a fan of their chai and want their business to succeed!)
jpatokal 9y ago
Nice article, but they're missing one (the most?) quintessential Indian chai experience: the chai wallahs on the trains. Waking up to the chant of "Chai, chai, chai garam" (Tea, tea, hot tea) and having a clay cup of sweet, hot, milky tea on board is about as Indian as it gets.
koolhead17 9y ago
There are few startups as well in India banking over Chai with lots of VC's money pouring in.

155 points by omilu 9y ago

The chai wallahs exist in Pakistan as well and I can relate to many experiences shared in the article. The chai wallah next to our university was a frequent hangout spot. On a related note few months ago a chai wallah from Islamabad got really famous because of his good looks: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/19/blue-eyed-tea-seller-arshad-khan-becomes-social-media-sensation-in-india-and-pakistan https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/19/blue-eyed-tea-...

somedangedname 9y ago
Similar to the discovery and subsequent popularity of "Salt Bae": http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/salt-bae?full=1 http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/salt-bae?full=1 Maybe the Internet is ready for "Chai Bae"?

mc32 9y ago

I don't care to know about the gossip or the preferences and peccadilloes of their clients --what interests me about these people (or the "flower vendors" and recyclers in a different way, etc.) of large Asian cities is the perseverance and tenacity of the people to make their own living as meager as it might be. I was taking a $10 equivalent taxi ride late at night the other day, the driver opened his window at a traffic light and bought some fragrant flowers from a woman selling them in the median at the equivalent of $2. I asked why he would buy those flowers, he said essentially, "I made some money, she needs to make her money and I get a fresh car in return". There are poor people for sure, but you will not see too many outright begging --they still offer the dignity of exchange of money for something tangible --even if it's tea-eggs on the corner (or in Mexico people peddling junkfood at major bus stops). We seem to have lost some of that dignity, I think. The only think that comes close are the people who try to push you to buy some panhandler advocacy newsletter --I have not seen them in years and that pub was utterly useless.

seshagiric 9y ago
You put it nicely. Its a great enterprise they make, there is always a chai wallah at the railway station, office buildings, construction sites. It is also interesting to note College & university students have a cult following for their chai wallah. When alumni visit their alma matter, a trip to the chai wallah is a must.
- happy-go-lucky 9y ago
  The same chai wallahs are quite well-off, you may not know. Please wake up :)
  - unlimit 9y ago
    Oh yes, we know of some chai wallahs who make more than the chai drinking IT guys. I know some of them have multiple properties.
    - happy-go-lucky 9y ago
      You are right. Those chai wallahs would laugh away all these comments.
- happy-go-lucky 9y ago
  There are chai wallahs who rent out their properties to the top IT companies in India. I worked for one such company and regularly had tea with those wallahs. Their shops are still just outside the company's premises :)
- superasn 9y ago
  Reminds me of the paranthewalla (an Indian bread) and maggiwala outside IIT Delhi who certainly had a huge cult following in 2000. He used to be so popular because he was the only vendor in town open at 3am serving hot paranthas to students. Very enterprising guy.
  - 9y ago

seshagiric 9y ago

Yes, as an Indian living in the US chai is one of the things I miss dearly. Also the chai latte etc. one gets at Starbucks & co are a misnomer, they are no where same as Chai.

zzalpha 9y ago
So as a someone who's only experienced chai in North American Indian restaurants or with my best friend's family (who immigrated from Punjab), I'd love to hear what makes the real thing unique and different! Is it richer? Sweeter? Less sweet? More bitter? More spiced? I have no doubt this is a tough question to answer... my understanding is every wallah may have their own masala and so forth. But I'd love to hear your answer!
- hesarenu 9y ago
  It would be different from place to place. In Bangalore you get a milky thick tea while in my coastal town its more watery liquid. Not a liker of masala tea, don't think its too common down south.
  - zzalpha 9y ago
    Interesting! So down south it'd more commonly be just milky, black tea with sugar?
    - vram22 9y ago
      No, you can get tea flavored with spices (added while making the tea, not during production of the tea leaf), in the south too. Ginger and cardamom are more common though, IME. See my other reply.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - nsenifty 9y ago
    It is worth mentioning that coffee is much more popular than tea in Bangalore (and other cities of southern Karnataka) in most middle class joints. However on the streets, tea still rules. Probably because cheaply made tea is more palatable than cheaply made coffee.

sujal99 9y ago

Some health concern about Chai:- 1. Lots of sugar. 2. Use of Aluminium utensils.

cholantesh 9y ago
2) is not a valid concern. Unless you are planning to melt the cookware down, trepan yourself and inject the melted aluminum into your brain, you should be fine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11259180 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11259180

factorialboy 9y ago

Fun fact: Current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who incidentally meets President Trump for the first time this week) was a "chai wallah" in his younger days at some train station. The term "chai wallah" was used as a jibe against Modi by senior Congress politician Mani Shankar Iyer but the people of India chose the chai wallah instead of the "crowned prince" of the Nehru-Gandhi family with a thumping majority. Despite being a democracy India has been ruled by the Nehru-Gandhi family (via the Congress Party proxy) for more than 60 years since its independence in 1947.

v1n337 9y ago
Factually incorrect. This is not the first time that a non-Congress party has been elected to power in India. The NDA government was in power during 1998–2004, a period including the Kargil war. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party#NDA_government_.281998.E2.80.932004.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party#NDA_gov...) Modi was not a chai-wallah. His father owned an unregistered tea-shop at a railway station. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-official-record-of-Modi-being-tea-seller-RTI-reply/articleshow/46325234.cms http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-official-record-...)
- chaiwala101 9y ago
  The activist who asked about tea selling asked a fake question. The activist does it all the time. Also, Modi never claimed he was registered to sell tea. Had the Congress government been so proactive in 55 years by mandating registration of tea sellers, India would be much safer, more cleaner, and less corrupt. Fun fact : That activist is from Congress party. Another fun fact : Such activists do not disclose the exact wordings of the RTI query, they intentionally post ambiguous queries and use the reply to create sensational headline. I can challenge any of the Modi haters to share their exact RTI queries before they make sensational headline
  - markdown 9y ago
    > RTI query What's that?

omilu 9y ago

Some great videos of Chai wallahs in action. These guys make my Startbucks barista look like a preschooler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcTjA6Vchq8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcTjA6Vchq8

twic 9y ago
There's a very similar procedure, with a different recipe, in Singapore: https://youtu.be/hodOAEzsNWs https://youtu.be/hodOAEzsNWs

syntr0pic 9y ago

Generally I make it for 2-3 people. The following is for one cup. Ingredients: 1 cup Whole Milk 2-3 Cardamom Seeds 1 Cinnamon (Add a small bark, nail length) Raw sugar Breakfast Black Tea (Preferably loose) Suggested Brands: Mumtaz Tea (Loose Black Tea) - Available at Amazon 1. Crush cardamom seeds and cinnamon, preferably with coffee/spice grinder, do not use the powder form, lightly break apart the seeds and bark, a few taps should suffice. 2. Place 1 cup of whole milk and spices into a small pot, simmer milk. 3. Add 1 tablespoon of tea. Note that this measurement may be different depending on brand. If you added too much, you can balance it out by adding more milk. 4. Add raw sugar, start with single teaspoon, add more as necessary 5. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, milk will slow turn khaki, once you start seeing microbubbles, tea is almost ready. 6. Use a tea strainer or sieve Minor note: Many South Asians will add a thin slice of ginger while the milk is simmering. Traditionally served with rusk.

zzalpha 9y ago
For folks who want to try this out, other suggestions for things to try in your chai masala include black pepper, clove, and/or star anise
- eponeponepon 9y ago
  I'd say black pepper is essential - it gives a little bite at the back of the mouth that complements the ginger (also essential! :) ) perfectly. You only want two or three peppercorns though. Star anise is a great occasional addition, but I wouldn't want it every time.
  - nerdy 9y ago
    Wholeheartedly agree. Black pepper is a seemingly strange, but necessary addition. It fills a small gap in the flavor profile between the tea and the spices. My preferred ingredients are cardamom, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, and a very small amount of nutmeg. I like to add 1 part honey for every 2 parts sugar. It's tough to get the perfect ingredient ratio without making large batches or using a scale. Whole milk (or cream) is important for the fat content. In general my chai does not come out as dark as the chai I had in the Pune region, but does have a remarkably similar taste. As I understand it they sometimes make the base the day before. The color difference could be because of my preparation haste, shorter brew time, different ingredients, or adding too much milk/cream. The chai in India also has a different mouthfeel. I'm not sure if it's loose spices in the brew or if they add something but it feels almost like pulverized rice in the tea.

bogomipz 9y ago

What lovely pictures, such a colorful and unique country. In Kolkata the Chai often comes in little clay plots almost like mini flower pots called 'bhar.' They are meant to be disposable. And I saw many people break them on the ground when they were finished with their tea. Here's a nice short read about the tradition if anyone is curious: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/10/kolkata-age-tradition-bhar-clay-cups-tea-161004053736038.html http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/10/kolkata-...

selimthegrim 9y ago
In Hindi these are called "kulhaR", and used to be found in railway stations all across British India before 1947.
- bogomipz 9y ago
  Interesting, I wonder why the tradition is largely confined to West Bengal now?
  - vram22 9y ago
    It's not only in West Bengal. Tea was still sold in kulhars (kulhads) in North India (from say Madhya Pradesh and up north) some years ago when I used to travel more in trains - this was decades after Independence in 1947. Apart from the disposable factor, I guess another reason may be that the clay pot keeps the tea warm for longer - and it can get pretty chilly in North India in winter, though not quite comparable to more northern countries. It even gets quite chilly in say Maharashtra (south of Madhya Pradesh), more in the interior areas away from the coast, in winter.

dctoedt 9y ago

The first time I heard the term chai wallah was in Slum Dog Millionaire — the game show host used it (somewhat disparagingly) to refer to Dev Patel's character.

chaiwala101 9y ago

Here is one method to make Tea: 1 - Take cardamom or ginger or both, and put it in 2 cups of water. ( No need to grind ginger ) 2 - Warm the water till it boils, till 30 minutes. 3 - Add Chai to boiling content & basil leaves. 4 - Wait for 5 more minutes, take out the content, filter out the contents, add honey+ lemon to the filtered content. 5 - Drink.. No milk and no sugar. Do not grind the ginger, this is important, the tea will become too bitter if you grind it.

captn3m0 9y ago
30 minutes is a bit too much. Just wait till it boils.

vram22 9y ago

Ha ha, interesting thread, will check out the article too. Coincidentally, I was just reading about Masala Chai, recently, got reminiscent, and and that prompted me to start making and drinking it again, after being a coffee and herbal tea guy for a long time :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai Incidentally, US guys (some of you anyway), it's not called "chai tea", just "chai". Both words mean the same (in Hindi and English respectively), so "chai tea" is redundant. Had heard some American colleagues using the former term in a company I worked at earlier.

vram22 9y ago

Another interesting take on tea (in India) is the rather strong tea you (used to) get at Irani restaurants in India. They boiled it for a long time, is why it was strong. There is a community of Iranians (not Parsis) who had come to India several (maybe a hundred or more) years ago, and settled here. Some of them started a typical (for them) kind of restaurant(s) - with bent rosewood chairs, marble-topped tables, mirrors on the walls, etc. There are (mostly were, now, sadly) a sort of institution in India. College kids, working people - both blue- and white-collar, oldsters meeting to chat and gossip, all kinds used to hang out at those places, have the famous / standard items (apart from their unique take on tea) like bun + butter / brun + maska, omelettes, samosas, khari (a dry baked wafer), etc. The younger generation of them unfortunately didn't want to continue the businesses, plus the restaurants were often situated in central areas in Indian cities, so had high real estate value, so many of them have been closed and the spaces sold to Barista, Pizza Hut and the like. A loss ... Used to hang out regularly at such places in school and college days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irani_caf%C3%A9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irani_caf%C3%A9

vram22 9y ago
They were very correct in their dealings, and wouldn't tolerate any crap from anyone - customer, supplier, etc. - would bawl them out immediately (including with curses sometimes), which was part of the charm of going to such places.

ebcase 9y ago

If you're in / near San Francisco and looking for great chai, definitely stop by one of the Chai Cart spots; there are a few on Market: http://www.thechaicart.com/ http://www.thechaicart.com/ (I have no affiliation with them, just a fan of their chai and want their business to succeed!)

jpatokal 9y ago

Nice article, but they're missing one (the most?) quintessential Indian chai experience: the chai wallahs on the trains. Waking up to the chant of "Chai, chai, chai garam" (Tea, tea, hot tea) and having a clay cup of sweet, hot, milky tea on board is about as Indian as it gets.

koolhead17 9y ago

There are few startups as well in India banking over Chai with lots of VC's money pouring in.