Masala Chai with Cardamom (Masala Tea)
July 03, 2012
"Do come in, please have a sit and I'll make you a cup of tea...it will calm your nerves,"... said Mr. Sayeed as he ushered us into his living room.
There we were, 4 girls, far away from home, at Mr. Sayeed's doorstep, shaking and shivering.
We had our moments... our hair-raising moments during our first 3 months in Derby, UK.
It started out with our first rental house on Walbrook Road, arranged by the college.
We were excited, the house has 4 bedrooms, fully furnished with a gas heater, a sizeable kitchen, and a backyard, plus a cold, dark cellar.
Things were peachy rosy until one day, we were preparing our dinner, and there was a loud THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Someone is banging on our door.
Outside, stood 2 policemen... looking for 2 men and their last known address was... you guess it right!!! Our House!!!
Being young and naive from 'kampung' (village) plus watching too much of Hollywood 'suspense, scary, thriller' movies.
Policemen and photos of 2 unruly-looking men... just don't gel with ME!!!
THAT gave us a scare... we panicked, and felt uncomfortable living in the house with the cold dark cellar, you never know what's lurking or who is waiting for us down there, so we fled the house to Mr Sayeed's... one day... I'll blog about 'How we met Mr Sayeed"... may be.
He managed to get us another house ~ Richmond Road.
Our first winter in Derby was approaching, it was cold and days were getting shorter, and one of my housemates, N, was feeling under the weather; she cut class and went home earlier to soak in a warm bath.
Then things started to go 'Bump in the Night'... really went bumping.
As we walked through the front door, she gave us a puzzled look.
'Where did you go?
N asked
'We just got home from class' was our reply.
'Oh, I thought you were back home while I was in the bath, as I heard your chitter chatter.
It was our turn to give her the 'blank' look
Oh, perhaps it was the neighbour, she said to pacify her nerves.
We shrugged it off... having the same thoughts as she did...but only to be 'traumatised' again the following week.
It was late at night, and I was sleeping soundly in my room.
Suddenly, I was awakened by my friend, A, whose room was adjacent to mine.
She emerged from the adjoining door, panicking and shivering
There was 'something' in my room, and that 'something' was shuffling to and fro and around my bed, and ruffling the papers in my folder.
Blood rushed to my head, my heart was pumping so fast that I felt like it was going to burst out of my chest...Sleep evaded me that night... I stayed awake... listening....and listening... just in case.
The very next day...we marched to Mr Sayeed's ...told him what had happened.
He immediately moved us to another house, but there was one other problem with the house on Hastings Street!
It was not 100% ready, there was no heater, no gas, no furniture... just electricity.
Luckily, it was only a temporary arrangement.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be here typing away; I would have died of hypothermia back in 1983
Finally, we settled happily at Joseph Street until our summer holiday...
No more dramas...
Cardamom tea...
Every time we 'ran' to Mr Sayeed's house... we'd be served with Cardamom Tea.
His wife would busy herself in their tiny kitchen... and in no time we'd be reaching out to the cuppa.
It tasted weird at first... I and cardamom were like 'best enemy'... but soon we acquired the taste of cardamom in our tea...
Cardamom tea... this drink... took me back to Mr Sayeed's living room, sipping a mug of piping hot Cardamom Tea and our hair-raising stories to share.
Cardamom tea that Mrs. Sayeed would offer us whenever we stopped by to pay rent or just to say 'Hello'
Such a perfect tea for winter! :)
ReplyDeleteI too make cardamom and ginger tea often! Your pictures are killing me dear...gorgeous as you! :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful! Yes, a great tea for colder days.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Rosa
Fabulous photography! Stunning, i love it.
ReplyDeleteYour cardamom tea looks so fresh. :)
I don’t mind drink this every day. LOL.
Thank you for sharing. :)
You can submit your cardamom tea pics on http://www.foodporn.net It is a food (and drink of course) photography site where members can submit all food (and drink of course (again) LOL ) pictures that make readers hungry.
Well, you know it’s fun to make others hungry (and thirsty)! :D
your cardamom tea looks so inviting!
ReplyDeletethank goodness i ddin't have any scary stories at our rented houses when we were naive young students :-).
:D what a thrilling experience. Did you ever find out what all those noises were from?? Tea looks great! Here in India, we have our tea made with bay leaf and ginger. It is great for those rainy days :).
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, thanks for sharing your good old days story. It's definitely no joke moving from one house to another with different dramas....
ReplyDeleteBut today you'll treat it as a joke to laugh about it. :)
Thanks for sharing the tea recipe, look good. So can I have a cup of the tea?
Have a nice day.
Guess what I have in my office drawer? A small jar of cardamom....just for my tea :). Funny, some smells and spices brings back memories...I'm sure it does for you as well...love it!
ReplyDeleteLove your story and the tea is perfect for a Derby winter - or an English summer!
ReplyDeleteWhat a story! You had goosebumps raising on my arms. A perfect 'ghost' story to go with those delicious glasses of warm tea.
ReplyDeleteAnh
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is :D
LOVE2COOK MALAYSIA
Thank you :D. Must try with ginger ... next time
Rosa
Cheers Rosa :)
Jenny
Thanks for the invite... Will do so once my internet is up n running again...currently its crawling...
Lemongrass
Thank you :)
In Malaysia at that time, Poltergeist, Amityville were most watched film... ;)
Pan Cuisine
Dont think we want to know...hehehe :)
Amelia
Anytime for the birthday girl...
At that moment ...very takut, but now boleh gelak guling2 lagi :)
Lina_to_you
Food and music does that to me :)
WokandSpoon
Thank you :)
Thyme(Sarah)
LOL... Yes a cuppa of cardamom tea will calm your nerves ;)
Arhhh gorgeous photos and styling! I love cardamom and I actually make similar tea every afternoon. I cook tea leaves, cardamoms, and sugar, water, then add milk later but I want to try your method next time. Looks more rich! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
ReplyDeleteGhost story!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteI drink chai, quite often but not cardamon tea so i should really try it out soon! It's prefect for winter or in our case...summer. :)
That's what I need every morning.. irrespective of what the season is :)
ReplyDeleteOmg now YOU pun good at writing suspense stories huh!! This post had me at the edge of my seat waiting to read about what happened next too LOL. I love reading about your time as a student in the UK. Very interesting =D
ReplyDeleteWarming and comforting!
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious and your pictures are amazing. Would love for you to share your photos with us at foodepix.com.
ReplyDeleteUhhh... This is such so great! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm wanting to make this, but am lost as to what EXACTLY '2 tea bags' would be... just, 2 tea bags of any black tea?
ReplyDeleteThanks to anyone who can clear this up for me! :)
Shyan
ReplyDeleteYes it is 2 tea bags of any black tea... :D
I'd love to know where you purchased those amazing glasses/pewter handles! We're trying to get a holiday gift box with our spicy Bhakti Chai put together and these would be perfect! Thanks! Allison allison@bhaktichai.com
ReplyDeleteAllison
DeleteI bought these from an op shop.