Storytime: Chai

Chai literally translates to tea in many Indian languages, and is actually derived from the Chinese word cha. Chai is typically associated with a black tea served with milk, often sweetened and sometimes steeped with spices and herbs. We often end our meals at Bondhu with a cup of decaf chai, and we make it a little differently every time but with the same core ingredients: sweetened with sugar or jaggery, infused with spices (ginger, black pepper, clove, cardamom, star anise, fennel seed, allspice) and completed with milk powder or evaporated milk.