Indian Masala Chai

Sharon123's Note:

There are many versions of this tea. This is a good one from Food & Wine magazine. This would also make lovely gifts. Just package up the dry ingredients and write out the directions!

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2

• 4 whole cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons black tea (decaf is best)

Directions:

1. In a mortar, crush the cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon, or use a coffee grinder.
2. Transfer the crushed spices to a small saucepan, add the water, ginger and pepper and bring to a boil.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let steep for 5 minutes.
4. Add the milk and sugar to the pan and bring to a boil.
5. Remove from the heat and add the tea.
6. Cover and let steep for 3 minutes.
7. Stir the chai, then strain it into a warmed teapot or directly into teacups.
8. Enjoy!

Reviews

[busywifeandmom]

This is a perfect base recipe! I had to use cardamom seeds as opposed to pods so I guessed at how many and used 16 (I looked online and saw that a pod can have 8-12 seeds). I love cardamom and that was a good amount for me. I think next time I will increase the ginger and/or pepper since a like a little more bite. I also used 4 tea bags in place of the loose tea and that seemed to work well. I've been searching for a good chia tea recipe. Thanks, Sharon123 for posting!

[Ma Field]

I admit up front I don't love hot tea. But I LOVE this tea! Spicy and just barely sweet with a depth of flavor and creaminess I've never tasted before in tea. DH loved it too. I made coffe too (just in case) but we both liked the tea more today. I also got to use the mortar/pestle I got for Christmas and that was a fun bonus. Worth making just to make the house smell so good! Made for ZWT6 by a fellow Looney Spoon.

[UmmBinat]

Delicious chai. Exactly what I think chai should taste like. I added a star anise just because I had some but I don't think it needs it, and used dark brown sugar instead of granulated. I used rice dream for the milk because we are dairy free but had a problem that after boiling it, it began to separate for some reason so the next time I added the rice milk after all the simmering was done and it was perfect. I will definitely make this again.