TEA Pune Style

HOW TO "COOK" AMRUT TULYA CHAHA

 

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Pune is a Tea Town.

Yes, when I was a small boy, Pune [or Poona as it was known then] was a “TEA TOWN”.

During those days, in Pune, everyone drank tea, except some quirky upaas type aunts who always insisted on sweet milky jaiphal spiced coffee and were “fasting” most of the time on yummy delicacies like Sabudana Khichadi and Wade, Rajgire, waryache tandul, healthy fruits, nourishing milk, calorie-rich pure ghee sweets and similar lip-smacking upasasache padartha.

By the way DALDA, quite popular in those days, made from hydrogenated oils was quite mysteriously “permitted” for upaas as it was considered to be “ghee”.

At home, tea was made in typical Puneri manner as described in my previous blog post recipe  A Cup of Delicious Tea

Outside your home, there were chiefly two types of tea for the laidback discerning gourmet Punekar to relish – AMRUT TULYA CHAHA at the ubiquitous Amruttulya Tea Shops at every nook and corner of Pune, and the peerless IRANI CHAI served by the numerous Irani Restaurants all over Pune city and camp like Café Naaz, Lucky, Good Luck, Volga etc. Indeed Amrut tulya Chaha and Irani Chai are an important aspect of the culinary heritage of Pune.

Irani Chai is the most rejuvenating beverage I have ever had. They keep the steaming rich tea brew and hot milk in separate containers and mix it in just the right proportion to get the terrific inimitable gulabi Irani Chai.

Drench in a fresh soft bun-maska, place it on your tongue, and close your eyes – aren’t you in seventh heaven? Even a cup of piping hot Irani Tea by itself is sheer bliss. 

 

Of my favourite Irani Restaurants, Naaz, Lucky and many others have disappeared, and only Good Luck remains.

Amrut Tulya Chaha tea shops too are fast vanishing too like the one nearest to where I lived on Tilak Road in Sadashiv Peth in the 1960’s next to Ashok Bakery which also disappeared a few years ago. Further down the road past SP College towards Maharashtra Mandal there still exist the legendary Ambika and New Ambika Amruttulyas -- a friend of mine used to say that the morning tea was superb in one and the evening tea in the other.

It’s really sad. The culture of Pune is fast changing. The youngsters don’t drink tea anymore – it’s infra dig, isn’t it?

The young and the restless prefer Coffee. No, not the peaberry-plantation filter coffee served by the Udipi Restaurants which we used to love, but the expensive stylish international coffees served at posh Baristas, CCDs, and high-falutin coffee shops proliferating rapidly all over Pune.

Just imagine, the other day I couldn’t get a cup of decent tea in a multiplex, but there were plenty of varieties of coffee all around.

Hey, it seems I am rambling away and have gone off on a tangent, so let me not digress from our main topic – The Art of making Amrut Tulya Tea.

Amrut means Nectar, and Tulya means Comparable, so “Amrut Tulya” means “Comparable to Nectar” and indeed, true to its name, Amrut-Tulya Tea is comparable to nectar –  sweet, ambrosial, like the elixir of life!

I loved watching Amrut Tulya Chaha being prepared. Amrut Tulya Tea is not brewed in the traditional Tea service style. The Tea is “cooked” in front of you in a brass vessel and as the vessel ages it becomes “tastier” and tastier with time.

I love the “special” chaha.

Milk and water are boiled together, with plenty of sugar, masala [comprising crushed cardamom, ginger], and tea leaves, stirring continuously to make sure it doesn’t overflow.

Come, my dear Tea Lover, let me tell you how to make Amrut Tulya Chaha - The Art of making Tea – Pune Style. 

Assemble the following Ingredients for Two Cups of Amrut Tulya Tea “Special Chaha”.

If you live in Pune, get the famous CTC+OP “Family Mixture” Tea Powder from your favourite “Tea Depot” in the heart of Pune City. Or you may use some good Assam CTC Tea.

By the way, the acronyms are: CTC – Crush, Tear, Curl; OP – Orange Pekoe; BOP – Broken Orange Pekoe.

Full Cream Buffalo Milk [I like Chitale or Sane dairy]

Fresh Water

Sugar

Fresh Ginger Crushed [Better still you can crush the juicy fresh ginger with the chimta directly in the water-milk concoction to let the ginger juices flow out and blend in smoothly]

Cardamom – peel, crush and powder the pods

Before you start, dear reader, here is a note of caution: Please remember that Amrut Tulya Tea is not your traditional Masala Chai so please don’t add any Tea Masalas or spices like clove, cinnamon, black peppercorns or herbs like gavati chaha (lemon grass), tulsi leaves etc. and neither is it the “khada chamach” or “cutting” Chai so please don’t boil away to glory – remember, you must achieve Amrut Tulya Chaha of just the right consistency...!  

Now let us start “cooking” amrut tulya tea – we will make two cups, one for you and one for me.

In a brass vessel [or stainless steel, if you can’t get a brass vessel] mix one cup of water and one cup of milk.

Add four teaspoons of sugar.

Put on the stove on medium heat.

Squeeze in a bit of fresh crushed ginger and add a pinch of cardamom powder and the freshly crushed peel.

Lightly and lovingly stir the concoction, let it warm, and bring to a boil.

Smartly add two teaspoons of tea powder and keep stirring gently to ensure the boiling concoction does not spill over.

Keep boiling till the tea attains beautiful bright golden-orange colour – the moment you see a reddish tinge, give the heavenly brew a loving last stir, twirl the vessel, and sieve the Amrut Tulya Nectar Tea, your Special Chaha, directly into the cups.

You can drink it from the cup, or better still the saucer sucking and pulling in the yummy liquid with your lips and let it deliciously emulsify on your tongue for that heavenly elevating feeling.

Sip the delicious tea slowly and mindfully, roll it on your tongue, let it mingle in your palate, close your eyes, absorb, discern the flavour, the rich taste, relish every sip lovingly.

Amrut Tulya Chaha is truly lip-smacking tasty and soul-refreshing – blissful ambrosia, an experience of nectar – you can take my word for it.

Now you know why they call this refreshingly delicious and nourishing tea Amrut Tulya “comparable to Nectar” Chaha.

Cheers...!!! Enjoy your cup of special Amrut Tulya Nectar Tea.

VIKRAM KARVE

  

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

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Yummy Yummy Mastani

Yummy Yummy MASTANI

By

VIKRAM KARVE



What is the perfect end to a rich and heavy Mughlai Meal?

A kulfi? A phirnee? Well, I prefer a cool refreshing Falooda.

Like the ice cold Shahi Gulab Falooda I always have at Shalimar in Bhendi Bazar Mumbai after devouring my favorite tandoori raan masala and other spicy rich non-veg delights.

And what is a perfect end to a spicy fiery Kolhapuri Meal?

It is Mastani – no doubt about it – a cool, refreshing, lip-smaking Mastani to quench your fires and perk you up with it’s blissful sweet cool revitalizing effect.

Mastani is to Pune what Falooda is to Mumbai.

You get Mastani all over Pune. The first time I tasted Mastani when I was a small boy was at Kawre Cold Drink House near Ganpati Chowk off Laxmi Road, but now I feel that their Mastani isn’t as good as before, now there are so many places in Pune where you get good Mastani and Punekar’s have their favorites like Sujata in Sadashiv Peth, which is close to the “Kolhapuri” food district of Pune near Peru Gate, but I also like the Mastani at Gujar Mastani House near City Pride on Satara Road.

At Gujar Mastani House I order a “Bajirao Mastani”. If you look at the menu, you will get confused, as there feature all types of fancy Mastanis fortified with dry fruits and all sorts of rich high-calorie embellishments, which will in fact will make you feel heavy and slothful, rather than quench, stimulate, revitalize and perk you up. So remember the golden rule, the “signature” no-frills authentic item will always be at the top of the menu, least expensive in that class – so go ahead and order it.

The contents of the tall glass comprise an attractive tantalizingly appetizing looking and fragrant layered creamy milky liquid of increasing density topped with ice-cream, with a straw thrust vertically through.

The glass is so full, that in order not to spill the stuff, you first sip through the straw a bit of the deliciously sweet pineapple syrup at the bottom, which feels heavenly as it mingles with, permeates, and overcomes, the spicy “Kolhapuri” aftertaste on your tongue. And in these hot summer days of Pune, if you are just plain parched, dehydrated and thirsty, the first sweet sip itself is deliciously thirst-quenching and cooling.

Then you relish small dollops of creamy delicious vanilla and pineapple ice-creams that adorn the crown. After that you can savor the Mastani as you please, but I like to stir the contents into a creamy mélange and spoon the delicious concoction onto my tongue, roll it in my mouth and savor every drop, rather than hastily suck the liquid via the straw straight into my throat down the hatch. The “Bajirao Mastani” at Gujar Mastani House is pineapple flavored and the small juicy pieces of pineapple at the end leave you with a tangy perked-up feeling. At Sujata Mastani House I prefer the mango and strawberry mastani.

I do not know if you get “Mastani” in Mumbai, or elsewhere. But next time you visit Pune, do enjoy a Mastani. Eat a “Kolhapuri” meal to your heart’s content and set your insides on fire. And then douse the fires with a soothing cool chilled Mastani, or just have a heavenly ice-cold Mastani if you are feeling parched on a hot summer day as a perk me up thirst-quencher and energizer.

And do tell us, dear Fellow Foodie, how and where you enjoyed a Mastani and didn’t you feel refreshed and perked up?

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Set your insides on Fire with a Fiery Kolhapuri Meal, Quench the Fires with Soothing Puneri Mastani and be Merry on a hot summer Pune afternoon.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

mailto:vikramkarve@hotmail.com

vikramkarve@sify.com

Art of Drinking

DON’T DRINK WHEN YOU NEED A DRINK

[Food for Thought]

By

VIKRAM KARVE



One evening a friend of mine landed up at my place and said, “I’ve had a really hard day at work. I need a drink.”

“I’ll get you a cup of tea,” I said.

“Tea…?” he exclaimed astounded, “haven’t you got some whiskey or something…I told you I’m feeling terrible…everything went wrong today…I desperately need a drink…”

“I know you are dying for a drink, craving, yearning, thirsting for that “soothing” sip of alcohol. That’s why you shouldn’t drink now. Never drink when you need a drink,” I said.

My friend pleaded, I didn’t budge, gave him a cup of tea, which he drank with great reluctance, and then he walked off in a huff, calling me all sorts of names, a miser, a “good for nothing” friend, but I knew I had done the right thing.

Don’t drink when you need a drink.

Sounds funny isn’t it?

Let me try to elucidate.

Never drink when you need a drink.

Don’t touch the bottle when you are feeling any negative emotion, for the bottle will “unbottle” and release your pent up negative emotions and make you feel even more miserable and also spoil the mood of all those around you.

Let me tell you something I have observed in real life. If you want to know the true character of a man get him drunk and what is hidden inside him will come out and his true inner self will be revealed.

That’s what alcohol does, isn’t it? Reduces inhibitions, makes you more expansive, expressive, loosens you up, and amplifies releases and brings out your inner emotions, talents, passions, sentiments.

That’s why some persons become more creative after a drink or two – as the music, the poetry, the creativity hidden within you is unleashed – if you are happy inside you start outwardly physically expressing your happiness by laughing, cheer and bonhomie, you may even articulate your secret unexpressed love, become amorous, romantic, try to realize your hidden desires and reveal without compunctions your inner secrets which you otherwise wouldn’t disclose.

But the converse is also true. By reducing inhibitions alcohol may bring out the worst in you and pent up negative emotions like anger, envy, dejection, despondency, frustration may also be unleashed resulting in undesirable consequences. Have you noticed how some people get violent, argumentative, rude or even melancholic, moody, sullen, depressed, unsociable after a few drinks?

Dear Reader, in my opinion, the best thing is not to have a drink at all, but if you must have a drink please do make sure that you are feeling positive, peaceful and happy inside and you don’t desperately “need” that drink.

Never drink when you need a drink.

Do you agree? What is your experience?

Please do comment and give us your views.


VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

Sugar Cane Juice

MY FAVOURITE COOL DRINK TO BEAT THE SUMMER HEAT

By

VIKRAM KARVE


A hot dry scorching afternoon in Pune.

I am feeling terrible – my spirits totally drained out – my throat parched, my insides dehydrated, and my whole body desperately thirsty.

Suddenly I see fresh sugarcane juice being made, in one of those ubiquitous “prehistoric” hand-carts, sugarcane is being crushed between two wooden rollers, a hardy man moving the overhead handle round and round, till the sugarcane is fully drained of its juice. In between he presses in pieces of ginger and juicy lemon with the sugarcane, and goes round and round extracting the last drop, and soon in my hand I have a tall glass of cool frothy sugarcane juice.

I sip. Close my eyes to heighten my inner senses.

Ah! So soothing. Stimulatingly refreshing and revaitalizing. Blissfully ambrosial, like nectar. A real thirst quenching elixir.

The sugarcane juice is very very lip-smackingly yummy, the ginger and lemon add a zesty tang to the deliciously sweet taste, every sip fortifying, invigorating, revitalizing, and soon I feel delightfully perked up, rejuvenated, and in the best of spirits.

Let me tell you one thing – you get the best sugarcane juice in Pune – no doubt about it. I have had sugarcane juice all over, but nothing can beat the sheer quality and lovely heavenly taste of the sugarcane juice get in Pune.

You don’t believe me! Okay, just go across to Shanipar in the heart of Pune and check out a fresh glass of sugarcane juice at Murlidhar Rasvanti Gruha [Established 1947], or at any renowned “raswanti gruha” or “usa che gurhal” in Pune and you will know what I am talking about. Maybe it’s got to do with the quality of sugarcane, maybe it’s the ginger and lemon that do the trick.

Well the “smart” youngsters of today may consider it infra dig to drink sugarcane juice and prefer colas, but for me – I love fresh tangy refreshing sugarcane juice anytime.

They say sugarcane juice is healthy, strengthens your organs like your brain, heart, stomach, kidneys, eyes and sex organs, has plenty of protein and iron, prevents sore throat, cold and flu, and is a panacea for many ills, but I don’t know all that – I just love a tall cool restorative glass of sugarcane juice on a hot dry afternoon.


VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

vikramkarve@sify.com