Highlights
- Chai La in Kharadi, Pune is serving a unique tandoori tea.
- The tea has been pulling huge crowds of chai lovers to the shop.
- The tea shop is owned by two science graduates from the city.
There is no doubt about the fact that tea is the preferred fuel of India and it is one beverage that unites us.
Masala chai has developed a cult following, especially among Indians, and has now started to win over the world too, with a number of Indian restaurants abroad serving the beverage. But apparently, there is still room for innovation. While households across India have perfected the recipe to make
masala chai, one Pune restaurant is pulling in huge crowds of tea drinkers with their unique '
tandoori tadka chai'.
A tea shop based in Kharadi in Pune, called Chai La is serving this unique concoction, which has a very different way of preparation. The makers of the tea first roast small clay pots or kulhads in pre-heated tandoor. Next, some half-done tea is poured in these roasted kulhads. Owing to the high temperature of the kulhads, as soon as the tea is poured in the cups, it boils over. The finished beverage has a unique smoky flavour, much like the tandoori foods that we usually eat.
Once the tea is completely cooked, it is poured in a separate, clean kulhad and served along with some bun maska (buttered buns) or biscuits. Pouring tea into the cup from soil also lends a special earthy flavour to the drink. Customers come pouring into the shop, to experience this rare hot beverage, which has been getting very favourable reviews from people who have tasted it. Chai La is the only shop that prepares and serves tea in this manner and they claim to have 'the world's first tandoor tea'.
One cup of this tea is available for a measly price of Rs 20 and although the shop closes at 11 pm, the demand for tandoor tea doesn't die out, till very late in the night. The owners of the shop are both science graduates and got the idea of the tandoori chai from their grandmothers' unique way of boiling milk in villages. The restaurant also serves a number of other beverages like matka coffee, haldi doodh (turmeric milk), etc.
(With inputs from ANI)