Issue #5 of the Chai Bhai newsletter. Happy New Year — in whatever calendar you observe.
Nine New Years and Counting
The Gregorian calendar's January 1st is celebrated across India's cities with fireworks and late nights. But it is, in some ways, the least Indian of the new years. India's own new year traditions are far older, more diverse, and more deeply rooted in agriculture, astronomy, and community.
Makar Sankranti (January 14th) marks the sun's transition into Capricorn — the harvest festival celebrated across India under different names. In Punjab it is Lohri (January 13th), marked by bonfires and rewri (sesame sweets) shared among neighbours. In Tamil Nadu it is Pongal — four days of thanksgiving, rice pudding cooked outdoors, and the honouring of cattle who made the harvest possible.
Ugadi (March–April, based on the lunar calendar) is the New Year for Telugu and Kannada communities. Gudi Padwa is its Marathi equivalent. Bihu in March is the Assamese harvest new year. Nowruz in March is the Zoroastrian (Parsi) new year — one of the oldest new year celebrations in human history.
In every one of these traditions, the gathering of community involves food — and food involves chai.
Lohri and the Chai by the Fire
Lohri is perhaps the most chai-compatible festival in India's calendar. Celebrated on the eve of Makar Sankranti, it involves gathering around a large bonfire after dark, throwing sesame seeds and popcorn into the flames, singing folk songs, and eating sarson da saag (mustard greens) with makki di roti (corn flatbread).
The chai served at Lohri bonfires is the thickest, most heavily spiced version of the year. It is made in large pots over a second, smaller fire adjacent to the bonfire, kept simmering through the evening, and poured continuously into cups held by people with cold hands and warm faces.
Lohri chai: The informal recipe is simple — extra ginger, extra cardamom, extra sugar, a touch of fennel (saunf) which is unusual but traditional in some Punjabi households. The fennel softens the sharpness of the ginger and adds a faint aniseed sweetness.
Pongal's Answer to Chai: Filter Coffee and the Exception
Tamil Nadu's Pongal is the one major Indian festival where chai genuinely takes second place. South Indian filter coffee — dark decoction dripped through a brass filter, combined with hot milk, sweetened and aerated by pouring between two vessels from a height — is the true festival drink of Tamil Nadu.
The pouring is not theatrical. It is functional: each pour cools the coffee slightly and aerates the milk, creating the characteristic frothy top. A properly made South Indian filter coffee at Pongal, served in a steel tumbler with a wide-lipped davara (saucer), is worth the journey to understand.
“We are a chai site, but we are also honest. Not every cup in India is chai — and the cultures that made their own thing deserve full credit.
A January Chai to Try
Til chai — sesame chai — is a winter speciality from Rajasthan and Gujarat, made with roasted white sesame seeds simmered in the brewing liquid alongside the standard spices. The sesame adds a toasty, nutty depth that is entirely distinct from any other chai variant. It is traditionally made on Makar Sankranti, but it rewards the other cold days of January too.
Next month: chai and love — the chai date culture of India's cities.
Chai piyo, zindagi jiyo.
— Chai Bhai