गुळाचा चहा · Drinks & warmers
Gulacha Chaha (Jaggery Chai)
Cutting chai the old way — sweetened with gur, warmed with sunth.
Before white sugar reached the village kitchen, chai was sweetened with jaggery — and in the Sangli belt it still is. Gur gives chai a rounder, caramel sweetness that sugar cannot, and granules stir in without a lump left in the cup.
- Prep
- 2 min
- Cook
- 8 min
- Makes
- 2 cups
Method
Bring the water to a boil with the sunth and lemongrass, and let it roll for a minute so the spice opens up.
Add the tea and boil for another minute, then pour in the milk and bring everything back to a rolling boil.
Let the chai rise once, pull the pan off the flame, then return it and let it rise again — the double rise is what makes cutting chai taste brewed, not boiled.
Strain into cups and stir a spoon of jaggery granules into each until it disappears.
आजीचा सल्ला · the kitchen's tip
Always add jaggery off the heat, after the milk has boiled. Jaggery boiled with milk can curdle the pot; melted into hot brewed chai, it never will.
Traditional uses described here are general knowledge about these foods, not medical advice.
From the shop
The staples this recipe is built on.
दाणेदार गूळ · jaggery
Jaggery Granules
Coarser than powder, free-flowing — gur that scoops like sugar.
सुंठ पावडर · ginger
Dry Ginger Powder (Sunth)
Perfect for kadha, tea-mix and a morning herbal drink.
More from the kitchen
हळदीचं दूध · Drinks & warmers
Haldi Doodh
The original golden milk — one pan, ten minutes, real Lakadong depth.
सुंठ काढा · Drinks & warmers
Sunth Kadha
The monsoon decoction — sunth, haldi and gur simmered into ten warm minutes.
पुरण पोळी · Festival cooking
Puran Poli
Maharashtra's festival flatbread — chana dal and gur, rolled thin and roasted in ghee.