Masala Chai(Tea)

My husband needs tea to start his day. More precisely, he needs a strong, slightly sweet and milky tea. Depending on my mood, what I have on hand, I keep switching up the spices. I do love to have this chai masala only in the evenings with vada’s. It makes a delicious cup of chai with minimal effort and without having to open too many spice jars. This is the recipe for my mom’s chai masala that she has worked on over the years. Some teas are light and refreshing but they do not hold up well to strong spices like cinnamon and ginger. A simple cardamom infusion works well with teas. The secret to a great chai is in the masala, the spice mixture. To make it richer, add more milk and sugar to taste.

Recipe course : Beverage

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 5 mins          |Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients	Quantity
Whole cloves	4 no’s
Cardamom pods	3 no’s
Cinnamon stick, broken into pieces	I medium stick
To grind
Ginger	A medium size piece
Black peppercorns	1 tbsp.
Fennel seeds	1 tbsp.
Mint leaves	One handful
Tea powder	3 tbsp
Granulated sugar	1 cup
Milk	2 cups

 Video link for Masala Chai

Method

1. Keep all the ingredients ready.

2. Now we are going to smash ginger, pepper, fennel seeds. little whole spices along with the some of the remaining pudina leaves. Crush these ingredients to a coarse mixture separately.  

3. Put the water in a tea pan. Let it boil for some time. Add the cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon to the boiling water along with the ground masala.

4. Now add tea powder to the boiling masala water.Leave it to boil for some minutes. 

5. After 5 minutes add the pudina leaves to the boiling water. 

6. Sugar got to be added at last. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for another few minutes.

7. Once done, remove from the fire and cover it for 3 minutes. Then strain (filter) the masala mixture and add milk.

8. Serve the tea with some biscuits or with some vada’s for this cold weather.

Notes

For a different taste, garnish your chai with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa or cinnamon. You can also chill your prepared chai and blend it with ice cream to make a delicious cold chai drink.