Tea lovers, listen up. I’m about to save you from an easy error we’ve all made before.
Here it is: Chai means tea.
Yes, that means if you’ve ever gone to a coffee or teahouse and ordered a “chai tea,” you basically ordered a “tea tea.” While it is common to order that way in America, now that you know what it means, it will probably feel pretty silly. So just call it “chai.”
I found this out on a recent trip to India, that in Hindi, “chai” translates to the generic “tea,” meaning the term is used to refer to all kinds of tea. (Side note: The word is originally derived from “cha,” the Chinese word for “tea.”) But what we know as chai tea in the States — that slightly spicy, milky black tea beverage — is actually called masala chai in India and elsewhere.
In Indian cuisine, masala refers to a flavorful combination of spices, often including varying amounts of cinnamon, ginger, star anise, fennel, nutmeg, cloves, green cardamom and peppercorn. At least four spices are usually used to make a masala chai tea in India, but oftentimes, quite a few more. Therefore, if you’re ordering a masala chai in India and elsewhere throughout southern Asia, you’re essentially ordering “spiced tea.”
Once “masala chai” started to jump continents and cultures, it lost its “masala” and kept a singular moniker — chai. Of course, when we Americans picked it up, we tacked on the word “tea” to attempt to clarify that we intended to order tea in the Indian style.
So, if you wish to avoid redundancy — and potential light ridicule from Indian friends — just keep it simple. Order a “chai” and leave it at that.
While we’re talking about Indian food, you should also rethink your “naan bread.” “Naan” means “bread” in many cultures. So avoid ordering “bread bread” and just order naan.
