When I first travelled to India with Leprosy Mission Australia, I planned some time to explore various pockets of the country. I met an entrepreneur who was starting a machine learning school for girls in Pune, clicked my fingers at a slam poetry event in Mumbai, and was the only foreigner in a vegan cooking class.
In Australia, we have countries within a country – nations, ethnicities, religious communities, minorities, majorities – we have so many people that hold varied relationships to the idea of Australia. This feels more pronounced in India, where 1.5 billion people hold varied, overlapping and sometimes conflicting relationships to the geopolitical institutions and labels that have come to represent such a vast array of individuals.
Prior to visiting India, I developed a fascination and love of chai tea – at least in some forms. Although born and raised in Melbourne, I never developed a taste for coffee or a fascination with roasting methods and bean varieties. However, I did find a love of chai, beginning with now-despised powdered chais (sorry) and then eventually developing my palate and awareness of less sweet, more complex chais.
Chai is a staple in India. Chai walas adorn street corners with vats of tea and unpasteurised milk. These street corners are the collective meeting places to connect with your neighbours, engage with your senses and gain nourishment. I watched closely as a man cut slices of ginger – his thumb the chopping board. Tea was brewed separately to prevent bitterness and sugar added to taste. I wondered what he would think of our choices in Australia: a sickly sweet powdered chai or an expensive ‘wet chai’ with a more complex flavour, but something still weak and bland compared to the street corners in Mumbai.
Tea varies throughout India. In the south you are more likely to find a sweet creamy strong tea while in the north, much more spice – including ginger – is added to the broth. India is a big place: many languages; many communities; many religions – and if food can be used as a metaphor, it teaches us that diversity transcends geopolitical boundaries on a map.
Unlike Australia, many Indian homes in poorer areas have very limited cooking facilities. In Australia many daily activities are private – from whether we’re watching TV, brewing a chai, or cooking dinner – we are rarely in our neighbours’ pockets. Eating and drinking is a communal practice, as I learned on a 2023 bicycle trip.
“Why are you here?” a man asked me in southern India. I told him, “to go for a bike ride”. It was 5.30am, the streets were buzzing with traffic as locals went about their business in the cool of the morning before Ramadan restrictions kicked in. “Why are you here?” he asks again, moving his emphasis, before buying me a chai.
I try to explain that I can buy him a chai. I really did try to push the point. I explained how expensive chai is back home and that at 25 cents a mug, this isn’t a bank-breaking exercise in generosity. He does not care for my arguments and rationale, clearly glazing over them. There is nothing I can say or do to prevent this man from buying me a chai.
When I’ve interviewed people affected by leprosy such as Samana and Shiveram or Noor, I’ve always been offered the welcome and hospitality of a chai – and I’ve always said yes. Served in tiny metal cups, rich with spices and sugar – and sometimes milk from the buffalo in the back yard – this shared cultural practice helps us to set aside time to listen to one another’s stories, to welcome one another into our homes and to share the experience together.
When you brew your next chai, make it a public affair. Invite your neighbours over, or take it to a party in a thermos. Participate in the drink’s long-associated cultural practices by sharing your brew with your neighbours. It tastes even sweeter and spicier this way.
Where to get your brew
Purchasing Prana’s’ handcrafted-in-Melbourne sticky chai or Seven Seeds Sri Lankan Chai from the Leprosy Mission Australia Shop, where 100% of profits go back to leprosy projects, is an easy, tasty, and ethical way to enjoy a warm spicy beverage at home. If you’d prefer to make your own blend, you can try my recipe below:
Chai for four
Ingredients
- 800ml Bonsoy milk (can be interchanged for another type of milk)
- 1 tablespoon of agave or honey
- 3 tablespoons of Fair Trade black tea or six black tea bags
- 8-12 cardamom pods (freshly crushed)
- 2cm ginger, thinly sliced, diced, or grated
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 6 cloves
- 4 star anaise
- 1 piece or teaspoon of mace
- 6-8 peppercorns (white or black)
- ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper, to taste (be careful!)
Method
- Using a mortar and pestle, grind spices. Ensure that all cardamom pods are broken open
- Heat spices and milk on the stove or in a thermomix to 80 degrees for at least five minutes
- Add tea, continue heating for no longer than five minutes
- Strain, serve, and enjoy with friends.
Leprosy Mission Australia’s shop also stocks other delicious Fair Trade and ethically sourced food and drinks that pair perfectly with a cuppa.
Time poor but want Chai? Check out the range in the Shop!
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