Tea lovers now have a reason to celebrate. City chefs have embraced tea just like wine, and consider it as much a cooking ingredient as a drink on its own. They say, it is the distinctive flavours of tea — springy, woodsy, minty, sweet or aromatic — that enhance the flavour dramatically in some of the dishes that no other ingredient can match.
Chef Sujan Sarkar, Chef and Partner, Baar Baar loves his ‘Churros with Masala Chai’. “Nothing can be more Indian than masala chai,” he says. “We love our cream tea with spices. At BAAR BAAR, we infuse masala chai and dark chocolate to create our warm chai chocolate mousse. We serve it with freshly made churros, a perfect combination for Delhi winter.”
Chef Vanshika Bhatia, Head Chef at Saucy Spirits Hospitality Pvt Ltd has created a dish out of her sheer love for chai — Masala Chai Marinated Roast Chicken Leg. “I experimented with various flavours and the desi masala chai seemed to stick wonderfully. The spices and tea give a deep flavour as well as colour to the chicken, and the roasted veggies on the side make it a fabulous centrepiece of any dinner party table,” she says.
A blend of tea symphony is from the Japanese cuisine repertoire when Chef Vikram Khatri offers elegant Matcha Pudding at Guppy. A sip of the Matcha green tea pudding matched brilliantly with a sweet toffee sauce and sweet red beans are sure to send you into tea tizzy.
Chef Prem K Pogakula, Executive Chef at The Imperial New Delhi loves to rustle up mains as well as desserts with tea. “Tea has a subtle and enhancing flavour and complements most of the ingredients it’s added to,” he says while presenting his showstopper Black Tea Poached Egg with Cha Soba noodles.
So, cosy up this winter in the marriage of food and your humble tea.
The author writes on food and travel besides other things.
Tea Tizzy
With winters setting in, it is time to not just drink tea but also to eat it. City chefs talk about how tea’s distinctive flavours enhance the flavour of dishes dramatically.