spices like cinnamon bark sticks, star anise, cloves, caradom seed, whole all spice, and white pepper corns.
There really ain't nothing as satisfying as a warm cuppa tea after a good hearty meal. I love milk tea, I love warm hot aromatic tea. Give me chamomile, green or english breakfast tea anytime and I'll be a happy tea girl. But of late, I've been quite in love with some sort of different tea 'concoction'. I believed the indians came up with it. Called Chai, it's actually spiced tea with milk and it's a great pick me up! I think it's similar to masala tea too.. hmm or maybe both are one and the same. Anyway I decided to make my own with a recipe I found online. Mine didn't have that strong a spice taste so if you are like me, and love that extra kick, just double the spices and let the flavours mix and meld into each other!
simmer with milk
and viola! My first attempt at Chai! .....
I love the milky light brown colour.... very soothing i think. haha oh don't you just love chai? Starbucks now has this Chai tea latte even.
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Chai
Spices
1/2 star anise
10-12 whole cloves
6-7 whole allspice
1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon, or two short sticks
6-7 whole white peppercorns
1 caradom pod opened to the seeds
Other ingredients
1 cup water
4 cups whole milk
2 heaped tablespoons of high quality full bodied broad-leaf black tea (Ceylon, or English Brakfast if a broad-leaf Ceylon is not available)
Sugar
1. In a 2 quart saucepan, add spices to 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil; remove from heat; let steep for 5-20 minutes, depending on how strong a spice flavour you want
2. Add whole milk to the water and spices. Bring the milk and spice mixture to a boil and remove from heat
3. Add tea leaves to the milk and let steep for 5 to 10 minutes or to taste. You can choose to add sugar at this point.
Homemade chai is the best! Starbucks has had their chai tea latte on the menu for several years now --- I get it when I'm not in the mood for coffee ;)
ReplyDeletereally authtentic chai tea! for the lazy me, usually i would make my instant white coffee and just add masala spice into it. not too bad. but definitely would not achieve like yours!
ReplyDeletefor typical Indian masala tea, take your 'chai' spices, a little more peppercorns (10) and seeds from 3-4 cardomom pods. toast them slightly, and grind to a fine powder. use 1/4 tsp of that for every 1 cup of tea u want to brew
ReplyDeletetym: ya, but too bad the one Starbucks has isn't too 'spicy' huh. I like mine with a spicy kick! Oh have you tried their peppermint mocha? it's a x'mas special. i have yet to try it
ReplyDeleterokh: you buy your masala spice? I'm always so curious what they add to it... cos some have more ingredients than others i think.
Vidya: ahhh Vidya, thanks for the tip! I'm a HUGE fan of masala tea and have been looking high and low for the perfect recipe. hehee I really do love my indian tea.
you can also buy chai or tea masala at Indian grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteI swear by 'Everest' tea masala. one surefire place, Mustafa.... they have quite a few brands, but I always prefer 'Everest'
you know what? i've yet to step foot into Mustafa! been wanting to go but haven't had the time. okay, i think I must go there soon! will try out the Everest masala! thanks for the tip! oh yes one more qn.. the leaves right.. tea leaves, you know any good brands? I know the ones sold outside have a really lovely dark orange brown colour... mine don't seem to have that shade..
ReplyDeleteHey Cher,
ReplyDeletehmm... being Indian, I have to have my tea really strong and dark. My preferred brands for tea are BrookBond Red Label, Taj Mahal, Tata Tetley and Society. These are for teas brewed with milk. and go best for 'chai' and masala tea. Taj Mahal gives a lovely rich colour and Tata Tetley too has a great colour and are the best Assam/Darjeeling teas that can be had 'black' too.. sans milk.
Again, Red label, Taj Mahal - any store in the Little India belt. All of the above brands, Mustafa! (Going there can be rather traumatic and annoying, what with incessant crowds and unhelpful staff, but its still a one-stop-shop for all home needs!)