CHAI, ADDA and KUMORTULI l Kolkata TEA TRAIL | Hands On Experience at POTTERS COLONY

► Subscribe to Delhi Food Walks:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Delhifoodwalks

► More street food in Kolkata:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnH4sSv2jFg&list=PLDs8Vu-e-HxKM4D_YydHrVVWmHuHAH5zH

In this final episode of our Kolkata Food series, let's take you on a brief journey that will acquaint you about the ubiquitous tea and adda( convivial gathering) culture without which the Bengali way of life is incomplete. Here in Kolkata, the love for tea is so cogent that you will find a tea shop on every nook and corner of the city.

There is an unparalleled satisfaction in sipping a cup of piping hot cup of well made milk tea purchased off a roadside tea stall. Kolkata takes its tea very seriously and hence it is deemed as the tea capital of the country. The tea here is mostly served in clay cups called matir bhaar. The earthiness from these eco friendly containers enhances the taste of the tea. Moreover, Bengalis believe in spending a good amount of their leisure time in having long winding conversations over chai and biscuits with friends at these non descript stalls. This informal gathering is known as adda. It involves long periods of discussions over topics both serious and light. So it can be a political, social, cultural, economical etc discourse between a group of friends and acquaintances. So tea and adda compliments each other.

The tea drinking scene over here is so riveting that during our 5 days tour, we too ended up having countless cups from tea from every juncture that we halted at during our shoot. So as we reminisce about the city's affection for tea, we couldn't help but recall some of the places where had an amazing tea experience. First comes the zesty Lemon tea that we had tried at 102 years old Favourite Cabin and at Princep Ghat. While the former was the hangout point of the revolutionaries, intellectuals and freedom fighters during the British Rule, the second destination is the city's oldest recreational spots. Next in the list is the unique steam Chai from the very popular Balwant Singh's Eating House. Its unique because unlike the making of regular tea, here the tea is not boiled in milk. It is brewed in a cloth dipped in boiling milk and the strained brew is steamed in large water baths. The following one is a mindblowing saffron tea from Arun Tea stall. The rich and sweet fragrance of the saffron strands sprinkled on the top combined with the strong brew made it phenomenal. The final place that has made way into our memory is the Kadak chai from Baba Tea stall in Zakaria Street.

Furthermore our curiosity about the earthen cups led us to the iconic potter's colony in the city at Kumortuli to witness the making of the Bhars. It is inhabited by the porters who make clay items. We saw the whole process from scratch and realized how what back breaking task it is to make these tiny, unassuming bhars that used only once. So come let delve into the details.


About the host - Anubhav Sapra
https://www.instagram.com/anubhav.sapra/

Anubhav Sapra is an avid culinary explorer who loves to travel and explore different cuisine primarily the street food, not just for the sake of gustatory pleasure but also for quenching his deep thirst for nurturing new cultural connections through the kaleidoscopic canvas of food. He believes that the vibrant and delectable street food tradition across the globe has the power to bring communities together and foster harmonious human existence. To know more, visit www.anubhavsapra.com

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep our Indian street food explorations video in your feed!

Thank you for watching!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/delhifoodwalks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/delhifoodwalks
Instagram: https://instagram.com/delhifoodwalks

Design and filmed by Rahul Singh
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/iamrahulsingh.2/

Text by Swetaleena Nayak