Welcome to a unique experience of chai pe charcha with tandoori tadka

A Pune tea seller is serving tandoor tea to his patrons.

Mumbai, May 24: Back in 2014, when then former chief minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi was making his bid to become the Prime Minister of the country, he introduced "chai pe charcha" (decision over tea), a unique campaign to reach out to voters by directly discussing issues with them in tea stalls.

The campaign did work wonders for the Bharatiya Janata Party which came to power at the Centre after the General Elections that year and Modi became the PM. Modi's association with chai (tea) is very long, close and personal as he himself sold tea as a child in the railway platforms of Gujarat.

Along with pushing the career of Modi, the entire campaign helped the quintessential tea regain its lost glory as several high-end tea cafes sprang up across the country. Some have even named their enterprises as "chai pe charcha".

Continuing with our tea discussion, in Maharashtra's Pune city, a tea seller is attracting a host of tea lovers to his shop these days by serving them a unique-flavoured beverage, by bringing the taste of tandoor (a traditional oven) in a simmering hot cup of tea.

That is why we are calling this interesting way of enjoying tea as chai with tandoori tadka (tempering). So for a while forget about your favourite tandoori chicken, tandoori naan and tandoori paneer tikka, and head to the tea stall to taste tandoori tea.

Talking about the procedure used to prepare tandoori tea, the shop owner told ANI, "We have a unique tea-making process. We first roast kulhads (mini earthen cups) in a pre-heated tandoor (a traditional oven) and pour semi-cooked tea into the extremely hot kulhads. We let it bubble and once done, the chai gets a smoky flavour."

Isn't it interesting? Next time you feel tea is boring and coffee is fashionable--thanks to all the popular brands selling coffee--think about the tandoor adding that extra flavour to your chai. Cheers!