Café Ritual · Strong Milk Tea
Irani Chai
Photo: Ahmed Nisar / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Hyderabad's Irani cafés — started by Zoroastrian immigrants who arrived from Persia in the 19th and 20th centuries — have shrunk from an estimated 450 two decades ago to roughly 125 today, meaning every cup poured now comes from a shrinking piece of the city's history.
Strong-brewed black tea is mixed with a thick, slow-reduced milk base and poured into a small glass, resulting in a rich, low-water brew locals sometimes call 'khari chai.' Hyderabad's remaining Irani cafés, with their high ceilings and marble-topped tables, serve it alongside Osmania biscuits and buttered bun-maska.
Why it's made this way: Persian Zoroastrian immigrants brought the café format and tea style to Hyderabad, and the strong, less-watery brew became so identified with the city that it's simply known everywhere else in India as 'Irani chai.'
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