Drink to good health

Its raining and you are at home. Either grumbling about the rise in petrol prices or shouting at your spouse for the extra packet of masala she bought or maybe staring out of the window at the water splashing around or fumbling with the TV remote. But one thing you probably won't deny is that you are craving for a plateful of bhaja, pakora, bonda or fritters to go with a cup of steaming tea. 

Tea, a drink that is brewed in a majority home in India, has its roots in traditional systems of medicene but its commercial consumption began with the advent of the British. Today, India is one of the largest tea producers in the world, though over 70% of the tea is consumed within India itself.

In the early 1820s, the British East India Company began large-scale production of tea in Assam, India, of a tea variety traditionally brewed by the Singpho tribe. In 1826, the British East India Company took over the region from the Ahom kings through the Yandaboo Treaty. In 1837, the first English tea garden was established at Chabua in Upper Assam; in 1840, the Assam Tea Company began the commercial production of tea in the region, run by indentured servitude of the local inhabitants. Beginning in the 1850s, the tea industry rapidly expanded, consuming vast tracts of land for tea plantations. By the turn of the century, Assam became the leading tea producing region in the world.

Writing in The Cambridge World History of Food', Weisburger & Comer writes:
"India is listed as the world's leading producer, its 715,000 tons well ahead of China's 540,000 tons, and of course, the teas of Assam, Ceylon (from the island nation known as Sri Lanka), and Darjeeling are world famous. However, because Indians average half a cup daily on per capita basis, fully 70 percent of India's immense crop is consumed locally." [From Wikipedia].

While in its traditional form, it is brewed and mixed with hot/warm milk (cow milk or powder), in current years it is being had more without milk. Healthier forms of it being green tea, black tea, white tea, yellow tea, oolong tea and post-fermented tea.

Its advantages:

Tea contains catechins, a type of antioxidant.

The flavonoids in green tea reduce risk of heart attack and stroke. It lowers LDL cholesterol level and inhibits formation of blood clots.

Tea protects bones with its beneficial phyto-checmicals

Tea protects against cancer. Thanks to the antioxidants and polyphenols.

It is speculated that excess comsuption of tea may lead to several complications, but moderate quantities serve to enhance health. Atleast, when you have a headache, it relieves you as much as a tablet of disprin does.

The Japanese and the Koreans have an elaborate ceremony when drinking/serving tea. Wikipedia has more info on that, but with or without ceremony, it can be had with equal pleasure. It is infact a common man's drink in India and is available in every gully or nukkad ki chai ki dukaan. Some pour the hot, piping liquid onto a saucer and then sip from it while others drink direct from the cup but as the ad says, "surrrrrrr ke piyo", I suggest you try it, whenever you want all eyes on you. Don't forget the pakoras alongside. Keep munching.

Interesting food trivia :

The colors yellow, red, and orange are used in fastfood restaurants because those are the colors that stimulate hunger.