OUR expectations are high this Tuesday afternoon as we make our way through the busy streets of Trinidad’s capital city, Port of Spain. A final turn off Ariapita Avenue takes us onto O’Connor Street in Woodbrook and to House of Jaipur – the cosy endroit where the fashion cognoscenti shop, do tea, shop some more and pour some more tea.

It’s a cosy ‘home’ in a residential neighbourhood that is slowly being embraced by commercialism. There is no sign at #14. A press on the door buzzer soon allows entry at first into a foyer where the Indian deity Ganesh stands guard in a circle of tea candles flanked by other movers of evil demons.

The music of the subcontinent wafts through the air and our eyes follow an amazing trail of colour – saris, cushions, rugs, curtains, runners and jewellery. There are, in fact, some seven shopping rooms including three cosy, opulent tea rooms, sufficiently curtained off to provide a semblance of privacy but with enough sheer in the partition to allow one to see and be seen (half the fun of shopping at luxe enclaves such as House of Jaipur is to be ‘seen’).

Across the wooden floor we trek… picking up the quaintest pieces of irresistible gems. Bangles, earrings and brooches are in abundance and purchases are placed in the cutest House of Jaipur pouches. A break from shopping (why stress?) allows us to secure the middle tea room (best visibility), slide into the comfy seats and lean into the sensuous silk embrace provided by the many cushions.

Eschew all thoughts of bite-size cucumber sandwiches. This is Indian High Tea… House of Jaipur style with traditional Indian savouries and “chai” – a generic word understood by a population of a billion to mean tea. Chai becomes the perfect balance for spicy savouries like Aloo Ki Tikki, spicy potato cakes served with tamarind and mint chutney.

The recommended tea is Assam. Assam is also the perfect choice for Bhel Puri, a well-known street side snack made popular in Mumbai. Bhel puri is a mixture of savoury morsels that includes crisp puffed rice, potatoes, onions and other spicy nibbles all tossed together with a tart tamarind chutney. The key, we discover, is to put the entire snack into the mouth and allow the flavours to explode. Blissfully divine!

And so the pairings continue in the same way one would pair wine. With the crisp, deep-fried vegetable samosa filled with vegetables and served with mint and mango chutney, Darjeeling becomes the tea of choice while Nilgiri (a strong black tea with a smooth taste – kind of like English breakfast), brewed from handpicked tea leaves from the blue mountains of South India, is what’s poured with Macchi Ki Tikki (spicy fish cakes marinated in a blend of spices and pan fried into a crispy patty and served with mint and mango chutney). We dub the experience ‘a culinary tour without the megaphone’.

Other savouries include crispy rice pancakes (Dosa) filled either with potato or chicken as well as Pakora – deep-fried fritters known in some Indian states as Bhajias that are made using prawns, spinach and other chopped vegetables – paired with mango and tamarind chutney as well as Darjeeling tea. Additional tea offerings include Ceylon from the mountains of Sri Lanka and Egyptian Mint Tea which, when sweetened with honey, affords a truly superb experience.

What’s worth trying too, is the Masala Chai, the popular spicy Indian cup of tea blended with bold notes of aromatic spices and brewed with lots of milk and sugar.

Finally, something Naipaul can relate to: Close the meal with a House of Jaipur Sweet Plate – a combination of Indian sweets and have fun deciding which one you really like. Our favourites were the Gulab Jamun (literally translated to mean rose-flowered plum), an extremely popular Indian sweet made by soaking fried balls of chenna (Indian cheese) in syrup and the Nan Khatai – a nutty cake (not as sweet as our peanut brittle) flavoured with cardamon.

House of Jaipur Showroom

14 O’Connor Street

Woodbrook

Trinidad

Opening Hours:

Monday-Saturday 10:00 am-6:00 pm

Chai is poured 12 noon-6:00 pm.

Telephone: 1-868 624-7465