We are what we read. Devouring Enid Blytons as a child, I thought high teas were all about hot scones dripping with butter and large legs of pink ham, carved out by a rosy-cheeked cook. 

But, of course, now we know that we are also what we eat. So, with the World Health Organization warning us against crispy bacon rashers, and our cardiologists against butter, I have very reluctantly bid goodbye to the nostalgia conjured up by Blyton. 

There’s no reason to fret, though, for there is a huge existing world of teatime snacks in India. In the North, the concept is called chai-shai, and it involves drinking tea, munching something along with it, and chatting. In Bengal, I am told that people strongly believe in ‘cha er shongey ta’ — ‘ta’ being the snack that comes with the cha.

“People love their tea, and they love the snacks that come with the tea,” says Saurav Banerjee, executive chef at Oberoi Grand in Calcutta. “And along with it, of course, there’s adda.”

Some weeks ago, while chatting with Neeraj Tyagi, the executive chef of Shangri La’s-Eros Hotel in New Delhi, I realised that teatime snacks at hotels are being given a makeover. Of course, the creamy cakes and meat-filled sandwiches are all there. But increasingly, the chef tells me, they are catering to people who ask for either Indian snacks, or light nibbles, with their tea.

So, to cater to this demand, he has created a menu called Mr Chai, which includes various kinds of Indian snacks from different parts of the country. You can have your tea with maska bun, peanuts flavoured with curry leaves and samosas with a filling of cheese and chillies, or even butter chicken.

“We are doing customised high teas with spicier sandwiches or preparing healthy versions of finger food, depending on what one wants,” says chef Tyagi.

The trend also relates to the growing demand for street food, which many want to eat away from the hurly-burly of the streets. “A lot of people want Indian snacks, so there is a focus on street food,” agrees Sonu Koithara, the executive chef at Taj Bengal.

When people have their tea, they often ask for samosas, kachoris and rolls, chef Sonu says. “And we also serve various kinds of vadas — medu vada, Mysore vada and so on.”

I suppose there is something about teatime that excites us all. It denotes the end of a day’s work, and the start of a few hours of leisure. I know how important it is among Bengalis, who like to sit over a cup of tea with friends and discuss everything from Derrida to Teni-da.

And, of course, you need food to spark the discussions. “Some of the all-time favourites are begunis (brinjal fritters), chops (filled with banana flower, potatoes or minced meat) and jhal muri  (puffed rice mix with mustard oil and other ingredients),” chef Banerjee says.

The chefs also often tweak some of the old recipes to tickle jaded palates. For instance, chef Tyagi has been giving a new twist to one of north India’s favourite street food items — palak chaat. But instead of spinach leaves, he adds kale to the mix of wheat discs (papri) smothered with curd and chutneys.

Another old teatime favourite in the North is something called a fan — a very long (10 inches or so) flour-based flaky snack — that we used to dip in our tea and eat. It didn’t have much of a taste of its own, so chef Tyagi presents a jeera-cheese fan.

There’s a whole world there of regional teatime snacks waiting to be devoured. And who wants ox tongue sandwiches in any case?

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma;
Courtesy: Shangri La’s-Eros Hotel, New Delhi