Chai to Help You Celebrate Holi, the Hindu Festival of Spring

Holi is a Hindu holiday that celebrates Spring, colors, love, and the triumph of good over evil. Hindus and others who just want to have fun celebrate Holi with large outdoor gatherings. At these festivals, people burn bonfires by night and douse each other with colored powder and water by day. The festivals are also a time for people to forgive and forget, repair broken relationships, and enjoy food and drink. You can learn more about Holi here. Holi is observed during the full moon in March, which corresponds to the Hindu calendar month of Phalguna. This year Holi is officially on Wednesday, March 8, but there are Holi festivities and playfully lighthearted “color fights” planned for various dates throughout the Chicago area this Spring. You can check them out here.

Chicago has been a hub of world religions since the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions, which was held in conjunction with the Columbian Exposition. This event is recognized as the first organized interfaith gathering. The Parliament took place at the building that is now the Art Institute. One of the speakers at this event was Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda, a delegate from India. A key figure in introducing yoga and Hinduism to the Western world, Vivekananda riveted the audience with a call for religious tolerance and an end to religious fanaticism. Keeping the tradition alive, the headquarters of the Parliament of the World’s Religions is located in Chicago, and this year’s Parliament will once again be hosted in our fair city.

In celebration of Holi, here is my recipe for chai, one of my favorite beverages. I loosely based this recipe on the one for Spice Tea that appears in Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley.

Ingredients:
3 bags of black tea
1/4 tsp. powdered cardamom or 3 crushed cardamom pods
1 tsp. grated ginger
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. powdered cloves or 6-8 whole cloves
1/8 tsp. black pepper or 2 black peppercorns

Instructions:
In a small saucepan, heat 3 cups of water on high. Add the tea bags. While the tea is heating up, add the cardamom, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Remove from heat and strain into a glass jar.
Drink with sweetener and milk as desired. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Tastes especially good on a spring morning before going outside and doing something fun.

Sources:

Abhishyant Kidangoor, “Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Holi, The Hindu Festival of Colors,” Time (March 9, 2020).

“1893 World’s Parliament of Religions,” Art Institute Chicago.

Parliament of the World’s Religions, https://parliamentofreligions.org/

“Holi,” Wikipedia.

"Parliament of the World’s Religions," Wikipedia.

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