Mumbai Memories of Cutting Chai

"What on earth is Cutting Chai?" Most people in America give me this incredulous look when I speak of the iconic Mumbai street food experience. I don't blame them honestly. I have the same look when Yoga Mom decked out in Lululemon asks for her "Grande nonfat chai latte extra foam with 3 pumps of caramel". I resist the urge to bury my head in my hands as she happily swipes her card for her 6 dollar mid morning pick me up. If you happen to be in the Chai Latte loving camp, I suggest you stop reading right now, as I don't wish to offend your delicate sensibilities. Please return to the article about the perfect form for the downward facing dog.

Consuming chai is an integral part of being Indian. We consume on average, at least four cups of chai every day. Your morning newspaper moment is just not quite the same without it. The mid morning breather is the perfect excuse to inhale a quick cup before getting back to the tasks at hand. The four o'clock slump is successfully dealt with, thanks to cup of chai and a Parle G biscuit for dunking. Chai is how you transition from work to home, before the complaining begins about what the kids/neighbors/mother-in-law did this time. No wonder they call Mumbai the city that never sleeps. I call it a city suffering from chai-induced insomnia.

The street vendors of Mumbai, in my opinion, serve the best chai on this planet. Pretty much every street corner has a chai walla (tea vendor) and Cutting chai is the way street chai is consumed in Mumbai. 'Cutting' means one cup divided into two, basically half a cup of chai. In terms of quantity, it's probably less than 2 ounces, and like an espresso shot, it is served in standard issue glassware found mostly on the streets. Trust me, 2 ounces of this rich, tannic, overly sweetened brew is enough to awaken you from whatever low energy slump that plagues you. Mumbai locals prefer to have two cutting chais back to back, than one full glass. There's a couple of reasons behind this logic. The cutting chai offers room at the rim of the glass, making it easier to hold on and sip. (This is the streets of Mumbai, people...we don't do no fancy frou-frou sleeves for your delicate fingers). The other is a matter of value for money, which every self respecting Mumbaikar takes pride in. The quantity you get from two half glasses of chai is generally more than the quantity of one full class. Besides, two glasses back to back only prolongs the chai experience.

People believe that the street chai vendors use a unique blends of spices in their chai. This is only a ploy to sell you fancy sounding spices sold in dainty tins under the name of "Chai Spice" so you can have the perfect stocking stuffer for under 10 bucks. But if you ask me, a man who has had more chai flowing in his veins than red blood cells, the chai purists only use two ingredients to spice up their chai. Freshly smashed ginger and green cardamom. That's it. You should not have too many distractions from the true flavors of CTC tea and slightly caramelized milk from keeping the chai at a furious boil for extended periods of time. 

The final touch that gives Mumbai street chai its characteristic identity is the aeration.

This is when the chai walla pours the piping hot tea from one receptacle to another in order to cool it down slightly before it goes into your glass. I honestly believe it's more for visual appeal, a flair tactic used to attract more patrons to the stall. The particularly skilled chai wallas can stretch their pours to the better part of a yard. It's all part of the experience, and probably Mumbai's version of "Extra foam".

I will be in Mumbai very soon, and I can't express enough how eager I am to squat on a bench on some random noisy Mumbai sidewalk, and get my fingers curled around a hygiene compromised glass of my very own freshly brewed Mumbai street Cutting Chai, minus the fancy frou-frou sleeves, please.