IMBB17: A TasteTea Obsession

Can we have the drumroll please...IMBB is here again. This time with a most unusual theme: Tea! A la cuisine, one of the prettiest food blogs out there, tells us that we are to prepare a dish using tea.
Tea-drinking in India: For me, tea as a beverage has been a way of life for ever. India is a nation possessed by obsessions. I would say the top three are
a) Politics
b) Cricket
c) Tea
The first two obsessions are always accompanied by a cup of the third. Southern India likes its coffee, but for the rest of the country, tea is the beverage of choice. You only have to step into an Indian home, and the first thing you hear is "Would you like some tea?" In fact tea has entered the popular idiom...the term "chai-pani" (literally tea-water) refers to a bribe!
Most Indians drink tea at least twice a day: first thing in the morning, usually just by itself or accompanied by some cookies (called "biscuits") for dunking. Tea-time rolls around again in the afternoon, and this time it may be accompanied by snacks. The snacks could be dry fried savory snacks and pastries, or the ever-popular pakodas (batter-dipped fried snacks) or some other freshly prepared dish. Every region has its favorites. Where I come from, the tradition is to make a pan-fried dish of beaten rice called "poha" and serve it with tea or "chaha". Chaha-Poha is a real treat, I made it this weekend to celebrate the tea theme.

Making a Good Cuppa: I realize that the right method of making a good cup of tea is subject to more controversy than, say, nuclear disarmament, but here is my simple method of making Indian-style tea-for-two. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Just as it starts boiling, add 2 tsp. black tea and optional flavoring (see note below) and let simmer for 2-4 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea. Add 2 tsp. sugar and 1/3 cup milk and bring to boil again and then turn off the heat. Immediately strain into 2 teacups and serve.
There are several optional flavorings that make tea really enjoyable. Here are my three favorites:
a) Ginger: crush a knob or so and add while tea is boiling
b) Cardamom pods: Again crush 2-3 and add while tea is boiling
c) Lemongrass: probably quite unusual but my parents grow a shrub of lemongrass in her backyard (lemongrass is called "gavati chaha" in the local language which literally translated means "grassy tea" so there you go), and add a couple of stalks to tea as it is being brewed. It is amazingly citrusy and refreshing. Of course the traditional flavoring of Indian tea is a mixture of spices called "chai masala".

For my IMBB dish, I decided to make the milky Indian version of ice cream, kulfi, using chai masala to spice things up a bit.
Chai-Spiced Kulfi
Adapted from "Chaat" by Tarla Dalal
1 quart Whole milk (little less than 1 Liter)
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Cornflour, dissolved in 2 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. Chai Masala (grind together 4 peppercorns, 4 cloves, 6 cardamom pods, 1/8 of a cinnamon stick)
6 strands Saffron
1 Tea-bag of Black Tea
pinch of Salt
Method: Bring the milk to a boil. Add cornflour and sugar and continue heating on medium heat, stirring continuously for 30-40 minutes till the milk is reduced to little less than half the original volume. [For a real nifty way to measure levels while reducing liquids, check out this post from McCauliflower]. Now steep the tea bag in the hot milk for 10 minutes, then remove and discard it. Add a pinch of salt, chai masala and saffron and let the milk cool. Then freeze it to make wonderfully creamy kulfi.
This is a labor-intensive dish but so worth it! I was quite thrilled with the result. Steeping the tea after the milk is concentrated does not bring out the flavor of the tea as much as I would like but the spices make this a real treat anyway. I LOVED the sweet-spicy taste. Its a great end to any meal.

Would anyone care for a mug of chai-kulfi?