Kadak, Phika and Kam Meethi Are Instructions, Not Opinions

This is written to be used rather than admired. Each section below is a decision about the vocabulary used to order chai, and each one has a default.

The strength words

Kadak means strong, and at most stalls it produces a cup boiled longer with more leaf rather than simply a darker one. That extra boiling is why kadak chai often has a slightly stewed edge alongside the extra strength.

Halka or light means the opposite and is usually achieved with more milk rather than with less leaf. Some stalls hold a separate weaker pot, in which case the difference is real; others simply dilute, in which case it is not. Asking for kadak at a stall with high turnover generally works better than asking at a quiet one.

The sugar words

Phika, sometimes rendered pheeka, means without sugar and is the single most useful word on this list. Kam meethi or kam cheeni means less sweet and is a request most vendors can accommodate without difficulty.

By the second boil, whether either is possible depends entirely on whether the stall sweetens in the pot or in the glass. A stall sweetening in the pot can usually only offer what is in the pot, and asking politely tells you which it is. Ordering unsweetened chai at a stall is unusual enough that it is worth being clear rather than casual about it.

The portion words

Cutting means a half measure and is a portion instruction rather than anything about how the tea was made. Half is used interchangeably in many places and means the same thing.

Full or full glass is the default and rarely needs specifying unless you are ordering alongside cuttings. Ordering two cuttings rather than one full is a common way of getting the same tea in a better format. The price of two cuttings is usually slightly more than one full, which is the vendor s reasonable margin on the extra glass.

The milk words

Kam doodh means less milk and is a genuine request rather than a request for the tea to be stronger. Doodh patti means made with milk and no water at all, which is a different drink rather than an adjustment.

Black chai or kali chai means no milk, and at many stalls this will simply not be available from the main pot. Malai maar ke means with cream on top and is an addition rather than a change to the tea itself.

These four cover almost every milk-related request anybody actually makes.

The spice words

Masala chai means spiced and is the default at some stalls and an extra at others. Adrak wali means with ginger and is often the most common single-spice request across northern India. Elaichi wali means with cardamom and is more common in the west and in Gulf-influenced settings.

Sada chai means plain, meaning no masala at all, and is standard in much of Bengal. Knowing which of these is the default at any given stall saves a great deal of confusion.

Using them without pretending

Nobody expects a visitor to arrive with fluent stall vocabulary and using two or three words is entirely normal. Pointing at what somebody else is holding works perfectly well and is what most people do anyway. The terms vary regionally and the same word can mean slightly different things two hundred kilometres away.

In the pot, asking the vendor what a word means at their stall is met with an answer rather than with impatience. The point is to get the cup you wanted rather than to sound like a local, and the vendor understands that.

The takeaway

Learn three words and you stop being handed whatever the default happens to be.

A good glass is mostly fresh spice and the patience to let it boil twice.