Meerut Bun Maska Irani Chai Street UP

Method

1. 1

   Make the cardamom chai: Combine milk, water, crushed cardamom and tea leaves in a saucepan. Heat on medium.

2. 2

   Bring to a boil: Bring the mixture to a full boil, watching carefully to prevent the milk from boiling over.

3. 3

   Simmer: Reduce heat. Simmer on low for 3 to 4 minutes. The longer the simmering, the stronger the chai.

4. 4

   Add sugar: Add sugar to taste while the chai is still simmering. Stir to dissolve.

5. 5

   Strain: Pour through a tea strainer into cups. The chai should be very milky, very sweet and fragrant from the cardamom.

6. 6

   Prepare the bun: Take each bun. Using a bread knife, split horizontally through the middle — not all the way through — leaving a hinge at the back.

7. 7

   Apply generous butter: Open the bun wide. Apply 2 tbsp of white butter to each cut surface — the bottom and the top. The butter should be applied generously — the maska in bun maska means butter (from makhan) and the quantity is not modest.

8. 8

   Warm the buttered bun: Place the buttered bun on a warm griddle or tawa for 1 minute per side. The butter will begin to melt into the soft bread. The bun should be warm and slightly toasted outside with the butter melted through.

9. 9

   Serve immediately: Serve the warm bun maska alongside the hot sweet chai.

10. 10

    The eating method: Take a bite of the buttery bun and immediately a sip of the hot sweet chai. The salt-sweetness of the butter with the sweet-milky chai is the classic Meerut morning combination.

11. 11

    Note: Bun Maska-Chai is the universal morning breakfast of western UP towns — from Meerut and Muzaffarnagar to Saharanpur and Moradabad. Every street corner chai shop serves this combination from 5 am. The white butter (safed makkhan) — which is the fresh churned butter from local buffalo milk dairies — is distinct from the yellow branded butter found in supermarkets. The UPP towns have a culture of eating breakfast at these chai shops rather than at home, making bun maska a significant social institution.