After all the great feedback about Aarti Party’s first episode, I have decided to review all of them! The fourth episode “Chai Paarti!” is my favorite one so far. Samosas are traditional chai time snacks. Aarti puts her own (more…)
I watched the first episode of Aarti Party today. In two words I would describe the show as “British Indian.” British Indian food is not authentic Indian food but rather a Westernized version of it. When Aarti mentions (more…)
We see Indian influences everywhere nowadays. Whether it’s your Chai “Tea” Latte at Starbucks or a kajal eyeliner at Sephora, the craze for everything Indian has taken over. The other day I even heard on Food Network that the “hot” new cuisine of the year is Indian food! Check out a few of my favorite finds:
Terracotta Loose Powder Kohl Liner by Guerlain
This ultra fine, loose powder can be applied as an eyeliner using a wand applicator or as an eyeshadow using the brush. Thousands of years old kohl gets transformed.
Sephora, Laura Mercier, Makeup Forever, and many others have kohl liners as well. Stila even has a kajal eyeliner and Givenchy has a kajal eye pencil as well. Remember when everyone left kajal behind for the modern eyeliners? It seems like some of these big cosmetic companies are now taking something of ours and turning it into their own! I would check the ingredients before using any of these though.
Starbucks’ Chai is a big loser for it’s fake ingredients such as a “chai” syrup but their Black Tea Latte is worth trying with some modifications! Try ordering it like this next time: (your size) Unsweetened Black Tea Latte with less water and more milk! Add the amount of sugar to your taste and it comes pretty close to the chais made in most Indian homes! Why order it unsweetened though? The sweetener they use is their “Classic” sugar and water concoction that gives it an artificial taste.
Nature’s Gate’s Henna Shine Enhancing Shampoo and Conditioners are worth a try! Once again the mehndi plays an important role in the west. This formula is perfect for dull and lifeless hair. The henna helps impart shine to hair.
Not to worry because the henna used in this formula is of the non-coloring type and won’t dye your hair!
A walk into Starbucks recently, reveals that they are promoting tea. In fact, everyone is drinking more tea. Whether it is black, green, or herbal. However, chai is nothing new. Indians and the Chinese have been drinking it for centuries. Of course, America has discovered its benefits much more recently. It is also a fact that once Americans discover something they make a BIG deal out of it. Such as when mehndi became a popular craze during the 90s. Westerners started applying mehndi all over their body. They misused it to such an extent that today the limitations of mehndi have changed.
But coming back to tea…the word chai has been misused constantly. Chai which literally means tea is translated into America as a spiced tea. These people are too ignorant to realize that although masala chai means spiced tea, chai simply just means TEA! Starbucks and many other coffee and tea shops throughout the nation serve chai or a “chai tea latte” as a spiced, milky tea. Unfortunately, it does not come close to even compare with the chai or masala chai drank in Indian homes! It’s usually prepared with some type of syrup concentrate and is more watery and often very foamy.
To insult chai even more Starbucks is now promoting Berry Chai and Apple Chai. But is it really an insult or an honor? Is it a step ahead or simply just a step towards making money. Personally, I dislike both of these tea “infusions,” as they are known. They are not the type of taste that would suit most Indian palates or are they?
So looks like chai is really hot in 2009! It is “the” thing to drink and it’s definitely more “in” than coffee right now. Sure coffee is still the all-American drink but according to a recent study, 9 out of 10 customers are tea drinkers, whether soley tea drinkers or in addition to coffee. So, say good buy to frappuccinos and get ready for tea time!
Kutch is the largest district in the state of Gujarat and the second largest district in India covering 45,612 Kilometers. (more…)
Even though Chai is a generic term used to refer to “tea” in India, it tends to refer to Masala Chai in the United States. (more…)
