Corey writes:

To fulfill the promise from last week: here is a recipe for masala chai. If you practice this recipe, you might become a chai wallah Slumdog Millionaire.

Supplies

• Very small grain strong black tea. Ripping open a few bags of Lipton might get you what you want.
• Sugar
• Whole, full-fat, death milk (If you try to make this with skim, bad things will happen to you)
• Potable water (you are lucky if this comes out of your tap)
• 1 cinnamon stick -OR- 6 whole cardamom pods -OR- fresh ginger root
• Fine mesh strainer

Method
1. Pour about 1/2 C. milk and 1/4 C. water per person in a saucepan. Add the cinnamon or cardamom or ginger. If you are totally insane, add all three.



2. Put the pan on medium-high heat, but watch it closely after about 3 minutes, because it will boil over very easily.



3. Once the mixture starts to boil, turn the heat down to low and add about 2/3 Tbsp tea per person and 1 heaping Tbsp sugar per person.





4. Let the mixture simmer for about 5 minutes. Then kill the heat and strain it into glasses.



You're going for about 2/3 cup of tea per person, no more. I once served our neighbor an American-sized 1 1/3 C. serving, and she said "ohhh this is too much, Corey!"



5. Now, enjoy on your roof overlooking a scenic valley.



You'll never go back to the crappy powdered stuff again!

Corey writes:

Here's a quick and easy flatbread that is eaten every day in the north of India. I make it once or twice a week. Try it with hummus!

Ingredients

• Wheat flour (it's called Atta here in Koraput)
• Water
• Oil
• Salt

Equipment

• Mixing bowl
• Flat non-stick pan
• Rolling pin
• Gas stove or other open flame cooking surface. (This is for real, you'll see why this is required later)
• Flame-resistant fingers, or tongs if you are a sissy

Method

1. Start with about 3/4 cup of flour and 1/2 tsp salt per person (this is a very rough estimate, there are no exact measurements here)

2. Add about a tsp of oil and 1/3 cup of water per person.

3. Mix up the dough, adding water by the Tbsp as needed. You are going for a very dry dough here, so be careful not to add too much. If you do, just add flour to the dough to compensate. The dough should pull together into one big clump, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. You should be able to take some dough and roll it into a ball without it sticking to your hands.

4. Get a dry, flat surface, like a cutting board or the countertop. Sprinkle some flour on it. Take about 1/4 cup of dough (like you would for a cookie) and roll it into a ball in your hands. Then flatten this ball on your floured surface. Flip it over and flatten it a little more. This will get a head-start on the rolling process and also coat both sides in flour, so it will not stick to the rolling pin or the rolling surface.



5. Pre-heat your pan on a medium heat. While that is going on, finish rolling out your first roti. You want it to be as thin as you can get it.

6. Once the pan is pretty hot, just throw the roti on there. No need for oil.

7. While that roti is cooking, time to start the second roti. Re-flour your surface. Make another small ball of dough, smash it on both sides. Start to roll it out, but keep an eye on that first roti.

8. It's time to flip the first roti when it starts to bubble a little bit and the bottom starts to turn just a little brown. Flip it over on to the other side, and finish rolling out that second roti.

9. Once the second side of the first roti is starting to turn a little brown, it's time for the daredevil part of the act. Remove the pan from the flame and then lay the roti directly onto the flame using your fingers (or tongs if you are a sissy). Leave it on the flame for about 3 seconds, and then flip it and scorch it for another 3 seconds. The roti should really puff up and get some nice black spots on it.



10. Congratulations, you've made your first roti! Plate that first one, heat the pan back up and throw the second one on there. Repeat the whole process until you've run out of dough. You might want to have some help for the first time, so that one person can man the stove while another is manning the dough, but with a little practice, one person can easily crank out a dozen rotis in 30 minutes.