What Is Chai and How to Make It

柴是印度的一种生活方式。您几乎到处走动 - 在火车，街道上，在纱丽商店中 - 您会看到人们吞下甜美，辣，乳白色的饮料。

在美国，“柴”已被称为茶的风味，主要是肉桂或豆蔻味。但是在印度，柴不是茶的味道。它是茶 - 芝伊（Chai）的字面意思是印地语中的“茶”，所以当您说“柴茶”时，您基本上是在说“茶”。在印度，我们在美国认为这种高度专业的饮料只是准备茶的标准方式。

印度的柴文化是由英国殖民化发展的。在此期间，英国东印度公司蓬勃发展，印度是阿萨姆邦的茶是其最大的商品之一。印度的茶消费量不断增长，最终，印第安人在英国准备了茶（用牛奶和糖）准备茶，并在上面加上自己的茶，加上姜，肉桂和丁香等香料。

Nowadays, India is not only one of the largest producers of tea in the world, but also one of the biggest consumers of it. In most big cities, you'll find chaiwallas (vendors who specifically sell chai) on every corner, with their enormous steel pots or kettles full of simmering chai. If you go to someone's house in India, there is a 100 percent chance of chai being served. There are regional variations, too: in Kashmir, people will sometimes use green tea instead of black tea, and almonds are often added. In Bhopal, chai might have a pinch of salt in it.

For the most part, however, the basic components of chai are the same: tea, milk, spices, and sweetener. I turned to Anju Sharma, the chef/owner of the very excellent Indian restaurant,Amma, in New York to show me the ropes on how to make a great cup of chai. Also included in my expert panel: my mother, Ritu Krishna—a formidable chai maker all her own.

这杯茶

除了少数例外，柴的底部是红茶。红茶有很多变化，但是阿萨姆邦在柴中最常见，因为它具有浓郁，浓郁的风味。她说，我的母亲会在柴上结合阿萨姆邦和大吉岭茶，因为前者赋予“色彩和身体”，而后者则赋予“香气和风味”，因此我的母亲将茶混合在一起。

牛奶

茶几乎总是包括milk, and that milk is usually whole. Sharma says whole milk is the best way to bring out the richness in all the spices. Conclusion: whole milk or bust.

The Spices

柴可以包括许多不同的香料。小豆蔻是最常见的成分，其次是肉桂，生姜，星芳香和丁香的混合物。还使用了胡椒，香菜，肉豆蔻和茴香，但它们的普遍性略有少。每个家庭都有适合其口味的融合。例如，Sharma的版本包括肉桂，丁香种子和姜，而母亲的版本（有些不常见）仅包括豆蔻。

A tip from my mom: fresh spices make the best chai. Always try and start with the purest version of each spice—like cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and cardamom pods.

The Sweetener

Plain white sugar is the most common sweetener for chai. Jaggery, or unrefined cane sugar, is also used, due to its concentrated sweet flavor, but it's harder to find in America. Chai typically involves a bit more sugar than you might be used to adding; my mother uses at least a heaping teaspoon of sugar in each cup of chai to get the fullest flavor out of the spices.

当我小的时候，我花了一些时间才能热身到柴的所有不同香料。但是我did立即喜欢柴的小吃。这些是甜和辛辣的零食的结合，经常油炸，打算浸入。这些小吃包括...

Parle-G:甜美，矩形，极其可扣篮的饼干，以所有正确的方式吸收柴。与可爱的孩子一起寻找包裹。其他类型的饼干或饼干也是非常可以接受的。

小三明治：通常用白面包制成，并简单地用黄瓜和洋葱，有时会聊天masala，如果幸运的话，番茄酱。真实的故事：我喜欢番茄酱三明治。

Samosa：Deep-fried pockets of spicy potatoes and peas—it's very hard to eat just one.

帕科拉：Deep-fried spicy vegetables—like tempura, but better.

姆鲁古：用大米和小扁豆粉制成的松脆的炸零食。这些令人上瘾。

夏尔马说，根据您喝柴的时间或时间，伴奏会有所不同。她说，早晨，您可能会喝面包或三明治的柴。晚上，小吃可能包括饼干和帕科拉。如果客人结束了，萨莫萨（Samosas）就会出来。

There are a couple different schools of thought on the best methods for making chai. The basic process involves boiling water, tea, milk, sweetener and spices in some order of operations, bringing the chai to a simmer, and straining it. But, as with the other aspects of chai, there is a lot of room for variation—and a lot of debate over the best methods, like when to add the milk, or how long to let the chai simmer.

Sharma坚持认为您不能将所有成分放入一锅水中before将水煮沸。她说，为了散发出茶和香料的最深风味，您必须先煮沸水，然后加入香料，几分钟后加茶，然后加牛奶。

"The key is patience," she says.

In the late '90s, Starbucks started serving its own variation of chai, named "chai tea." Other coffee shops followed suit, and soon, the drink became a standard offering—though often times, vanilla or cocoa would be added to the tea to give it a milder, more familiar taste. From there, chai-flavored desserts (and pre-made chai flavorings) started popping up in bakeries everywhere—chai doughnuts, chai cream puffs, even chai macarons. The crowning jewel of the mainstreaming of chai came, perhaps, in the form of Oprah Chai Tea, Oprah's collaboration with Starbucks and tea company Teavana to create different variations on chai, which included ingredients like lemongrass, roobois and basil.

话虽如此，据Sharma称，没有什么比自制的柴更好了，她的顾客知道了。

她说：“当人们来我们的餐厅喝茶时，他们会忘记在星巴克上拥有的东西。”“他们只想要与所有masalas（香料）一起茶。他们喜欢那里的原始味道。”

Next time you have a hankering for a hot beverage, consider brewing your own chai at home—all you need is black tea, milk, some spices, and sugar (and a couple of deep-fried snacks, to be sure). Just please, please stop calling it "chai tea."