The real Indian Masala Chai, a warm comforting Indian spiced tea, now enjoyed worldwide
Tea is common in all parts of Asia and Middle East, there are many different versions, each look and taste very different. In east Asia, young tea leaves are used to make a light green tea. Tea is more than a drink, its a part of the culture. Tea making and serving is a highly respected skill, and an important part of the culture. In the middle east, tea is a more medium brown color and served after dinner.
In the Indian subcontinent, black tea is more common prepared with milk and aromatic spices called Chai. You find Chai vendors on almost every street corner in India. Chai is still enjoyed multiple times a day especially in the afternoons, a ritual left after the British colonization. Sweet cookies and savory appetizers are served alongside a piping hot afternoon cup of chai. When you visit friends or family, tea is commonly offered. Tea plantations spread to East African countries with fertile lands, now Kenya and Tanzania are famous for their award winning export quality black tea. Today Chai is well known and found in coffee houses worldwide. Although, sadly none actually taste like the real authentic Chai.
Today, many folks use tea bags for a quick cup of Chai on the go. While the loose leaf Chai is cooked longer on the stove on the weekends. There are many different brands of black tea available. After trying out many of them, my favorite is Kenya’s Ketepa brand tea, however it is not easily available outside of East Africa. My second favorite brand is India’s Wagh Bakri which is more readily available in the U.S.A. (PS. I do not benefit from recommending any specific brands)
I cherish my childhood memories of sitting on my grandfather’s lap in the afternoons dipping cookies in his cup of chai. By the time I was done, he was left with only half a cup with floating cookie bits in his tea! Now my kids do the same to my chai. I remember the first time I made chai when I was 10 years old, it was a proud moment for my family.
Chai is quintessential warm comforting drink perfect any time of day especially on cold winter days. It’s has a soothing affect on headaches on stressful days. It has no medical value to cure headaches, but the warm soothing familiar taste helps to relax and calm down.
Below you will learn how to make basic chai as well as a homemade chai masala.
Time: 15 mins
Level of difficulty: Easy
Ingredients for homemade Chai Masala:
- 2 tbsp Fennel seeds (Saunf)
- 1 tbsp Ginger powder (Soot)
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 4 cloves
- 8 whole black peppercorns
- 10 whole Cardamom pods
- Optional: 1 tbsp dry mint leaves
- Optional: 2 tbs lemongrass leaves
Ingredients for Chai:
- 4 cups of black loose leaf tea, preferably Wagh Bakri
- Whole or evaporated milk
- Optional Sugar to taste
Method:
- In a spice grinder, grind together all the dry spices above. It can be left in small pieces or ground to a fine powder as desired. Be sure there is no moisture. This spice mix can be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 months. As it sits, the aromas will dissipate, so make it fresh more frequently.
- Mix the above chai masala with the 4 cups of black tea leaves. Instead of keeping the black tea and masala separately, it is more convenient to mix it and store it in 1 container.
- To make 2 cups of chai, in a pot add 2 cups of water, add 1 teaspoon of chai mix made above along with sugar to taste.
- Bring to boil, lower heat and let the black tea continue boiling for 2 mins.
- Add 1/2 cup of whole or evaporated milk and bring to a boil again. Let it continue boiling for another 2 mins. The longer it boils, the stronger the flavor will be.
- Turn off the heat, strain into cup and serve hot
- Enjoy!
Tips:
- Mix loose black tea with the spice mix for easier usage reducing the number of ingredients needed each time.
- In case all the spices are unavailable to make the spice mix, make the basic tea and add one of the following: grated ginger, mint, lemongrass, vanilla, cardamom, or fennel seeds to the tea. Adding one of these also gives nice flavor variations for the chai.
- For a richer taste, instead of regular milk use evaporated milk.