The country where I come from (India) and the country where I live (Saudi Arabia) are both very fond of “Tea”. So wherever I go am offered tea in a very loving and most hospitable way, I used to refuse very politely saying I don’t have tea or coffee. Then I realized it looks odd to sit without a cup in hand so I began to start a liking for flavored tea / black tea, all thanks to my husband.

Tea time can be considered as absolutely anything – family time, me time, a date or just a quick chat with friends. In India, we don’t say “let’s grab a coffee” instead we say “Chai Pe Charcha” which means “let’s talk over tea” I do not deny that coffee is trendy but chai or tea is an emotion. I have grown up seeing how important tea is for everyone around me to kick start their day.

So when its time for tea its always accompanied by snacks that change from country to country. In India its served along with pakoras – a variety of them almost any vegetable available in the refrigerator van be instantly made into pakoras, samosas – filled with potato, minced meat, cheese mixed vegetables, bhajiya or bajji – similar to pakoras but a more south Indian version of it & also dry snacks like – khakhra, chivda, chakli etc .

In the middle east, the chai that’s served is called “gahwa” a very flavourful version of black tea filled with the goodness of spices especially cardamom. Its served along with dates – plain, stuffed with dry fruits & dried flowers. They have a very unique way of offering gahwa it’s never served in a full cup, its the tradition to serve half cup as they want the guest to stay longer by asking for the second serving, how lovely.

I recently learned in one of the workshops that I attend, it seems jasmine tea is served with dark chocolate. I did get to taste this unique combination I must say it will be an acquired liking. when I visited Singapore I tried the matcha ice cream which was a long pending item on my list. I loved it, to my surprise my son who was 1.6yrs old also loved it, a very nice and tasty variation of the Japanese matcha tea.

That’s all for today a brief on my understanding of tea. Of course, there is more to it many variants, flavors & types. My next blog will be on healthy tea-time snacks. Until then it’s me saying “Chai Pi Lo”.

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