Chaa for the Indian Mother's Soul

I prefer tea to coffee, more specifically Indian masala tea called chaa.  It's a cultural thing.  As India is a former British colony, a hot cup of tea is important to the Indian way of life.  Families in India drink it twice a day - in the morning and at afternoon tea time.  When guests arrive, they are offered tea as soon as they walk through the front door and it is not uncommon for young children to drink tea.  It's odd to do a post on tea and it's difficult to explain, but chaa has been a substantial part of my life.  My mom taught me how to make it when I was young and I would make it whenever guests visited.   Although I've gone through many caffeine eschewing phases during my life, it comes to my mind again because when my mom stayed with us after my son was born, I got back into the tea drinking habit.   Now, it's become one of my morning rituals to put on a pot of tea while I sleepily play with my son. 

Though recipes and styles vary from family to family, making a good Indian masala tea is not difficult at all.  The predominant tastes in the tea are cardamom, a staple in Indian cooking, and ginger.  A popular Indian tea brand is Red Label although I prefer Tetley (my family is British influenced in many ways).  Tea masala (a blend of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, and nutmeg) is found in Indian grocery stores.  If you're more industrious than I am and want a truer Indian experience, substitute the tea masala with the core ingredients of fresh  ginger, cinnamon sticks, and cardamom powder.  Also, use a strong loose-leaf black tea such as Assam rather than tea bags for a fuller flavor.

Chaa Recipe

Ingredients :

• Tea masala
• Tetley tea bags -British Blend (my personal choice)
  
• Sugar

Preparation (makes 2 cups of tea):

1. Pour 1 cup water into a stainless steel pot and bring to a boil.
2. When boiling, add 2 tea bags, 1/4 teaspoon tea masala, and 2-3 teaspoons sugar.
   
3. After about 3-4 minutes, add 1 cup milk.  The liquid mix will turn pale beige in color.
4. Bring to a boil again and just as the liquid is rising to the top of the pot, switch off the heat. Pour through strainer and serve hot.

Sheero for the Indian Mother's Soul

In the state of Gujarat (the home state of my parents), Sheero is a sweet food (called prasad) that is offered to the deities and then distributed among the guests at the end of many religious ceremonies. I remember going to these ceremonies (or pujas) when I was younger and enjoying the taste of it at the end of another long, unintelligible Hindu ceremony.  It was a reward for sitting through an Indian function that I probably did not want to attend in the first place.

Sheero does not have the religious connotations for me anymore, but rather it has become my comfort food.  The tasty treat reminds me of the admirable woman that my mom is.  After my son was born, my mom came to stay with us and helped me with my son and with household chores for several months.  I would not have survived without her.  During this time, she made sheero for me every week because it is one of my favorites.  I am grateful for the family recipes and traditions that my mom has passed down to me.

Sheero is soft, fluffy, and rich and made of roasted cream of wheat mixed with milk, butter, sugar, cardamom, and almonds.  Many people add raisins and you can add fruits such as banana, grapes, apples and pineapple to give it a sweet and fruity flavor.   I love my mom's simple recipe the best, of course.  My mom has learned over the years to exclude raisins from almost everything if she expects me to eat it.  I like raisins on their own but for some reason, I don't like them mixed into my food.

Sheero Recipe

Ingredients :

• 1 cup Ravo or Sooji from the Indian store --> substitute cream of wheat from supermarket
• one stick unsalted butter --> my mom uses 1/2 cup of ghee
• 4 cups hot low-fat milk  --> my mom uses whole milk and others use water
• a little less than 1 cup sugar 
• 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
  
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
  
• 1 teaspoon saffron

Preparation :

1. Place non-stick pot over medium heat and melt the butter.
2. Pour one cup ravo/sooji/cream of wheat and stir continuously for about 12 minutes, or until the mixture becomes slightly pinkish-beige in color.
   
3. Add hot milk (pre-heat in microwave) and stir.  The mixture may bubble so keep your body turned away from the pot.  Stir until the milk is absorbed.
   
4. Add sugar and keep stirring.  Do not let the mixture stick to the bottom of the pot.
   
5. By now, the sheero will be soft and fluffy.  Add cardamom powder, chopped almonds, and saffron and stir.  
6. Turn off the stove and keep the pot covered for about 5 minutes.