Afternoon Tea

Most people have around three meals a day, with maybe a snack. In my family, we have at least five. Last March, my best friend Elizabeth spent spring break with me and my family in Hong Kong. We landed early in the morning, came home, and ate breakfast with my parents. Not even an hour later, talks of a mid-morning snack began. Soon, a platter of fruit was handed to us. Freshly cut pineapple, juicy strawberries, plump grapes and my favorite: kiwis. And then came lunch. And that was it. For now.

Around 5 pm, we have tea. Tea in most Indian households means tea and something. Whether that something be a piece of rich fruit cake...a fluffy slice of fresh pineapple pastry...an assortment of biscuits (Custard Creams, Jammie Dodgers, Bourbon Biscuits)...or some cut fruit, there must always be something.

Having afternoon tea is one of my favorite memories of growing up and it is something I look most forward to when I come home. In Hong Kong, I stick with a simple English Breakfast tea, black with one teaspoon of sugar. But in Delhi, I crave a masala chai, without milk but with a heaped spoon of sugar. My favorite tea time snacks include mini fruit tarts...made with a buttery shortbread crust, filled with silky pastry cream and topped with strawberries, blueberries, mangos and kiwis...I love an old-fashioned raisin scone, slathered with clotted cream and fresh strawberry jam...Can't forget one or two custard creams that will be dunked in the tea...And maybe a delicate cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwich...you know just to complete and balance the meal.

Going for afternoon high tea is a separate experience all together. I love everything associated with high tea. The formality, the pristine china, the array of pastries, the stack of finger sandwiches...My parents and I would go for high tea very often, and I would munch on fragrant chicken curry puffs, cucumber-dill sandwiches, and bite-size Opera cakes. It was such an elegant experience, and I would feel so much like an adult, although I doubt an adult would order a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows...

At home, we always add an Indian touch to our afternoon teas. There are a lot of savory options within Indian tea-time snacks, and some of our family favorites include papdi chaat and pakodas.

Let's start with papdi chaat. Papdis are crackers of a sort, and very crisp, and flaky in texture. My mom makes papdi chaat by crumbling pieces of papdi, covering them in yogurt, adding dollops of coriander and tamarind chutneys, sprinkling roasted cumin powder and chili powder, and lastly garnishing with pomegranate seeds. The dish itself is vibrant, and colorful...the emerald green lashings of chutney, the dusting of spices, the vibrant ruby-red pomegranate seeds...and it tastes even better than it looks. The crunch of the papdi, the tanginess of the tamarind, the hint of chili from the coriander chutney, mixed with the fresh yogurt and the sweetness of the pomegranate...It's truly one of the best dishes around.

Now pakodas! Every time it rains in the afternoon, my mom whips up a piping-hot plate of pakodas. Pakodas are meant to be enjoyed during a monsoon, especially with a hot cup of chai. Vegetable pakodas are made by coating a vegetable (typically onions, cauliflower, potatoes, spinach, green chili) in a batter made with gram flour and then deep-frying it. It is a vegetable fritter of a sort. Oh, they are absolutely sinful, but so so delicious. We serve them with a chili sauce, coriander-chili chutney and tamarind chutney. No rainy day is complete without them. And chai, of course.

Tea was the time when everyone woke from their afternoon slumber and congregated back to the living room for another meal. We would sit around, holding our cups of chai, debating about which biscuits to nibble on, what pakodas to eat...It was and still is my favorite time with my family.

The day doesn't end there though. After tea, we drink. There are separate snacks for that too. And don't forget dinner. Can't go to bed hungry, now can we?