Why bun maska and chai are suddenly everywhere in Kerala

There is a small, buttery ritual that has taken over Kerala’s streets and feeds. It is the bun maska and a steaming cup of tea. You get the bun slathered with the special butter, you dunk it into the chai and the whole thing somehow becomes more than a snack. it becomes a pause in the day that feels just right.

Across towns and cities many pop ups are serving this combo. Often it costs around ₹50. That low price makes it easy to try. The simple act of dipping a soft, warm bun into milky, spiced chai is cheap comfort. People film it, share it, tag friends, and the clip spreads. Before you know it a little queue forms and someone else posts a reel. That is how the trend grows.

Meet the Chai Couple
In Kochi the craze has a face people love. They are Sreelakshmi and Saran. They met at Chinmaya College in Ernakulam. They were best friends first and later married. For a time they lived apart. She moved to Belgium and he worked in Canada. After nearly two years of a long distance marriage they decided to come home. Instead of chasing the usual dream of moving abroad, they chose to stay put and build something simple they loved. That choice, their warmth and the food they serve, made people notice.

They started with one borrowed table, a flask from a grandmother’s kitchen and 20 cups of tea with 20 buns. The plan was to try one item at a time and expand only if people liked it. That did not take long. People kept coming. Now they run a pop up cafe, move location every day, and post the spot on Instagram. Their menu is focused and clean: bun maska and a special tea. They say the best part is watching customers take the first bite after a dunk. The expression on a person’s face is reward enough.

Where did it come from?
“Bun maska” literally means bread and butter: bun for the soft, sweet bread roll, and maska for butter (from the Persian word makhzan or the Hindi makkhan). Traditionally, it’s a lightly sweet, pillowy bun that’s split, generously buttered, and often toasted on a tawa. Some people add a sprinkle of sugar or a swipe of jam. It’s eaten with a hot cup of chai – strong, milky, spiced tea – by dipping the bun into the cup so it soaks up the flavour.

The bun maska–chai combo is rooted in the Irani cafés of Mumbai and Pune, which were set up by Zoroastrian immigrants from Iran in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These cafés became iconic for their marble-topped tables, bentwood chairs, and affordable comfort food, including their signature bun maska, Irani chai, and brun (crisp bread) toast. For decades, writers, students, and office workers gathered there to sip tea, read the paper, and dip their buns into the cup. From there, the snack travelled, first across Maharashtra, then to Gujarat and Hyderabad, and eventually all over India.

Why is it trending in Kerala now?
Kerala has a long tea culture of its own, from chaya kada stalls to fancy cafés. And social media has recently turned this old-school Mumbai habit into a new pop-up craze. Young café owners and couples like the “Chai Couple” in Kochi revived it as a minimalist, affordable comfort food that photographs beautifully and tells a story. It’s not just about the taste anymore; it’s about the vibe; nostalgia, warmth, and the idea that something as simple as tea and buttered bun can bring people together.

There are a few simple reasons the bun maska trend has spread so fast. First, it is nostalgic. The bun maska is familiar to many who grew up with city tearooms and roadside stalls. Second, it is a sensory snack. Warm bun, melting butter, fragrant tea. It looks good on camera and feels good in the hand. Third, the pop up model adds excitement. Limited servings and different locations make each day feel like an event. Fourth, it is affordable. A ₹50 snack is easy to try on the way home from work or during a short break. Finally, the human stories behind the stalls help. People love that the Chai Couple gave up comfortable lives abroad to make tea on the roadside. That story makes the bun and the cup taste like more than food.

Many customers are regulars now. Some travel from other districts just to try the bun and tea. Office workers say they wish they had this life. Strangers ask if Sreeshma and Sharan are siblings. Others ask if the tea is only for couples. The couple laughs and says they get every kind of question. They also tell how friends once pretended to sip tea from empty cups to make the stall look busy. Their parents were there from day one. The support mattered.

The Chai Couple are not the only ones. Pop ups across Kerala have started serving the combo. Some keep to a simple menu. Others add small twists. But the pattern is the same. Low price, limited quantity and a social feed that helps the story travel. When items run out people are disappointed and that scarcity adds to the legend.