Where has Tandoori Chai originated?
Britain’s first taste of tea was belated — the Chinese had been drinking it for 2,000 years. The English diarist, Samuel Pepys, mentions tea in his diary entry from September 25, 1600. “Tcha,” wrote Pepys, the “excellent and by all Physicians approved, China drink,” was sold in England from 1635, for prices as high as £6 to £10 per pound of the herb (£600 to £1,000, today). In 1662, when King Charles II married the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, her dowry constituted a chest of tea, and the island of Bombay for an annual lease of £10, equivalent then to the cost of a pound of tea in England. Tea is also the 'State Drink' of Assam. Every tea leaf has a story to tell, tea goes way into history and there are various theories on the story of how tea became a heritage of India.
A Buddhist monk observed a local ritual of chewing wild leaves in China and tried it himself on his way there, he felt so rejuvenated that he brought it back to India with him. Tea is said to be discovered 5000 years ago by an Emperor of China. Soon it was the staple drink of China.One of his listeners was Scotsman Robert Bruce, who went on to be known as the man who discovered tea in Assam in 1823. It was a momentous event in the economy of the state which, to large parts of the outside world, is almost synonymous with tea. Still, British tea cultivators were extremely anxious to have Chinese tea and techniques brought to India. Indian tea, called chai in hindi, is rich and milky, deeply coloured, steaming hot, and boldly flavourful with a definite need for sugar to offset the toasty bitterness. The word chai just means tea. Chai = tea. But according to the documented evidence, the history of drinking tea in India dates as early as 750 BC. At that time, it was not as commercialized as it is today. Mostly it was used by monks and saints who used them to stay alert. Later it was used for its medicinal properties, like the herbal tea in India. Tea was first introduced to Western priests and merchants in China during the 16th century, at which time it was termed chá. The earliest European reference to tea, written as chiai, came from Delle navigationi e viaggi written by Venetian Giambattista Ramusio in 1545. Originating from India, Chai is widespread with many household and regional variations. The folklore surrounding Chai dates back to between 5000 and 9000 years ago to an ancient royal court – either India or Siam. It was said that the reigning king created the recipe as a healing Ayurvedic beverage.
When chai given to tandoor operators was going cold because they were busy, they started reheating the chai in metal/clay containers kept inside the tandoor oven for a few seconds. Same effect is obtained by heating the empty cup to high temperature and pouring the chai into it. The smoke of the the tandoor is trapped under the chai poured into the cup, giving the smoky flavour. It has its own flavour due to the oven's uniform, but high heat.