Masala Chai

Masala chai is a spiced, milk-based tea from the Indian subcontinent, made by simmering black tea, commonly Assam CTC-processed leaf, together with milk, water, sugar and a spice blend, most often green cardamom, fresh ginger, cinnamon and cloves, until strongly infused. A popular legend credits its invention to the court of King Harshavardhana, a historical north Indian ruler who reigned roughly 606 to 647 CE, as an ayurvedic drink to keep him alert; this is folklore with no primary source located, and it involves no actual tea leaf, since tea was not cultivated or consumed in India at that time. The documented history is different: Camellia sinensis tea was introduced to India as a British colonial cash crop from the early nineteenth century, with commercial cultivation from the 1830s following the discovery of wild tea in Assam, and masala chai as currently understood, black tea cut with milk, sugar and spices and sold cheaply by street vendors called chai wallahs, was popularized mainly in the twentieth century, aided by marketing from the British-controlled Indian Tea Association.