Gossip and sipping tea go hand in hand. I remember, as a kid hanging around in the background trying to eavesdrop on some juicy gossip. It always intrigued me how people were so pleasant to each other when they actually met, but they had all this juicy stuff to talk about them, when they were not around. People were aware but as long as it wasn’t malicious I guess they did not care.
Wikipedia paints gossip in positive light by calling it a form of “social bonding”, often times ensuring people will behave favorably with each other so as to avoid being talked about in a negative way. Oh! well, with the explosion of information everywhere of all sorts on the internet a plethora of celebrity gossip and Hollywood gossip. I wonder if there is a sort of fatigue for gossip setting in?
Now, some people like to gossip more than others, while there are some who simply cannot digest a meal without gossip there are others who are strictly no-nonsense about it, they will not gossip — period. The merits of gossip are simple, you don’t have to look at yourself or your flaws because you are busy examining others, that way you feel good about yourself. As per yet another article on “Facebook research” people look at the facebook pages of friends who have lesser friends and a lesser “exciting life” to feel better about themselves. It must be the competitive nature in us humans to want to feel better about ourselves by putting them down – after all we are not physically harming them.
I am all for a stimulating discussion on Gossip or any other topic and what better way to have them than with a SIP of MASALA CHAI
Lets GO S..SIP MASALA CHAI
Masala Chai ………………………………………. Makes 4 cups
3 Cups of water
2 Cups of milk ( 2% )
2 tsp loose black tea leaves (Taj Mahal/Brooke Bond) or(4–5 Red Rose/Assam tea bags)
4 pods of black cardamom
4 pods of green cardamom
2 inch cinnamon bark
1 tsp of freshly grated ginger
4 – 6 tsp of sugar
1. Put the water in a 4 quart stock pan
2. Heat the water on medium heat for about 5 mins
3. Pound the cardamoms and the bark with mortar and pestle ( or a rolling pin)
4. Add the spices to the water
5. Add the tea leaves, I like to use Taj Mahal chai
6. Let the water come to a slow boil, then add the milk
7. Add the ginger
8. Let it come to a slow boil
9. Add sugar to taste
10. Strain it into tea cups using a tea strainer.
ENJOY!!!
Cooking with Ish 