Indian Chai and Double Roti

New Delhi / Mumbai : Tea in the hands of British facilitated trade, triggered tax regimes, even sparked revolutions. The brew may have originated in China, but there's still nothing more English than a cuppa tea.

But while the British introduced tea and crumpets with jam to India, the post-colonial nation found its own take on this heady concoction. Sixty years after Independence, India still snacks on them, but knows them better as chai and “double” roti

Boiled and sweetened with copious amount of milk and sugar, the humble pyala (cup) of chai comes in many a variety - aada doodh aadha paani (water and milk, half-and-half), masala chai, malai maar ke (creamed tea), kullar chai (served in earthen pots) and Mumbai ki cutting chai (Mumbai special tea).

India today consumes over 700 million kilos of tea every year and the ritual cuts across socio-economic barriers.

It’s hard to believe that over 150 years ago, the British started the country's first tea plantations, traded in tea under East India company and even ran commercial campaigns to popularise tea drinking among Indians.

Source: IBN Live