Chai Biskut with Vrij

Do not kill me for publicising my personal blog on Ambrosia. But the title just gives you an idea of whats being served and by whom.

If there is any 'ready food' that symbolises the city of Hyderabad much the way the Vada Pau does for Mumbai, then it has to be Osmania Biscuits with Irani chai served in the umpteen cafes that one can find splattered across the city. Of course the Biryani, the Haleem, the Lukhmi or the Double ka meetha are the choiciest preparations from the land of the Nawabs, but they sure do not come under the 'ready food' or snack category. So, more about them later!

Now, lets get started with some Irani chai.

Irani Chai was introduced to Hyderabad more than four centuries ago during the reign of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty. It is believed that the fifth ruler in the dynasty, Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah, who was by far the most successful of all in the dynasty had spread his trade to many parts of the world and had special relations with the Persians. There was a constant flow of businessmen and envoys between Iran and Hyderabad since then. Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah built the Charminar in Hyderabad in 1591 and after that the trade flourished even more. Many Persian artisans and businessmen even migrated to Hyderabad and settled down here. It was thus that the Irani cuisine found its place in the ethos of Hyderabad.

Tea as a drink was quite prevalant in Hyderabad since a long time, but it was the amalgamation of the Irani culture with the local flavour that led to the making of the Irani chai. Traditionally, Indian tea was made as a decoction of tea leaves in boiling water and a hint was cow's milk was added to bring the colour and restrain the bitterness of the tea. The Iranis used tea powder/dust mixed with flavoured tea leaves to make their tea. Since the tea dust was made by pounding the dried tea leaves, it was a strong concoction. To reduce the bitterness, more milk was used by the Iranis when compared to the local style. Special flavours of teas were also made subsequently by the Iranis which came to become standard concoctions.

Ingredients:

4 cups cow's milk

4 cups water

4 tea spoons tea dust

4 tea spoons tea leaves

2 pieces Cardomon(elaichi)

Sugar to taste

To make:

Heat 4 cups of water till it starts to boil. Simultaneously, boil 4 cups of cow's milk. To the boiling water, add 4 tea spoon full tea dust and 4 tea spoon full tea powder. It is advisable to use fresh tea dust/powder rather than processed and packed ones. Take two pieces of cardomon, powder the inside stuff and add both the powder and the outer cover to the boiling water. Keep boiling the tea water till about 25% of it evaporates.

Sugar can either be added to the milk while it boils or can be separately added to the cup of tea. If its the latter, then add a tea spoon ful sugar to a cup. Now strain milk into the cup so that its half full. Stir to mix the sugar. Then strain the tea water into a separate vessel using a muslin cloth. Only a cloth can effectively strain dust tea. Take the strained tea water and add to the cup of tea to the desired strength.

To give company to the Irani chai, we can have some Osmania Biscuits.

Osmania Biscuits were thought to have been named after the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan, even though their origins might actually date back to much earlier. It was well known to be a favorite of the British who would get the biscuits procured from Hyderabad and shipped to the Old Blighty!

Ingredients:

2 cups Maida

3 Table spoons Natural Butter / Vanaspati

One tea spoon Salt

Half tea spoon Baking Soda

One Tea spoon Sugar

Water

To make:

Take two cups of Maida in a vessel and add three table spoons of natural butter or Vanaspati(Dalda). Do not use pasteurised butter of the shelves or oil. Add the salt and baking soda to this and make a thick dough kneading it with water. Make sure that even though the dough is thick, all the maida has actually been mixed properly. Add sugar only if you want the biscuits to have a tinge of sweetness too.

Pat the dough into a thick round circle about one centimetre thick. Cut out small 4cm diameter circle biscuits out of this using a steel katori or glass. Paint the top surface of the biscuits with some butter. Place these in a tray to be placed in an oven.

Bake these biscuits for about 10 mins or so. The top should become golden brown. Take them out of the oven, make Irani chai and experience the zaika of Hyderabad!

A few modifications to the above recipes that can and should be tried.

* For the Irani Chai, instead of cardomom, add a dash of sonth (dried ginger) and crushed black pepper corns. This is a sure shot remedy for niggling common colds and 'gale ki kharaash'!

* If you eat eggs too, do this to the biscuits. Just before the biscuits are about to turn golden, get them off the oven. Paint some egg white on the surface of the biscuits and continue the baking process as usual. Adds another dimension to the Osmania biscuits.

- Vrij