What Spices Are Used In Masala Chai
- Chai Wallahs- the street vendors who make masala chai, all have their own unique blend of chai spices as well- and as you can probably guess, I was obsessed with watching them make their creations.
- These are the chai spices I saw used the most in India: Fresh ginger, cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns and star anise.
- I especially love the green cardamom pods I picked up in India. So here is a starting point for you but feel free to improvise and fine-tune to your own taste.
Lightly crush the whole spices before tossing into a pot of water with the black tea.
I prefer to use a high quality organic, loose black tea that I get in the bulk section of my grocery store. I use about a heaping tablespoon per serving.
You can also use a black tea bag or two.
Bring one cup of water with the spices and loose tea, just to a boil- then turn off the heat and let steep for 10 minutes. Boiling the tea will make it bitter, so just bring it to a boil.
Once it steeps, add the milk.
Making Indian Strong Tea
Good black tea will not have a bitter smell from the first boil. If you bought a good tea, it will smell sweet and when added to boiling water the aroma will fill the air.
Im making a strong tea, but not compromising the taste. Please follow the method and read the notes to get the perfect Indian Strong Tea.
Indian tea is made with fresh milk, but Im using evaporated milk since many got used to it in tea than fresh milk and I like it more with evaporated milk
Expert Tips & Troubleshooting
Don’t let the tea leaves boil too much in the water – Tea can become bitter if you let the tea leaves boil in the water. Add the tea leaves to the boiling water and lower the heat. Let the leaves simmer for a minute, and add milk and sugar. Boiling the tea leaves for too long will release some of its tannins, which can make the tea bitter.
Use whole spices, not store-bought spice mix – It can be tempting to use a store-bought masala chai spice mix or prepackaged masala chai powder, but I highly recommend using whole spices – using whole spices will make the chai more flavorful and will make a huge difference to the taste.
Use good quality tea leaves – I love my loose-leaf Assam tea for making the perfect cup of masala chai. I like the Taj Mahal and Tata Tea Gold brands. You can also use chai tea bags, but the taste will not be as good.
Water to milk ratio – This is completely up to your taste preference. For this recipe, I have used 2+1/4 cup water to 1/2 cup milk. I like my chai strong and not very milky, however, If you like your chai with more milk, you can certainly add more.
Make Vegan Masala Chai – To make this chai vegan, substitute dairy milk with your choice of non-dairy barista-style vegan milk. Oat milk or almond milk are good substitutes.
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Milk Powder Tea/ Milk Tea
Tea is the popular and all time favorite hot beverage to most of us. In South India, each households has their own way for making Tea. Some prefer strong tea for a refreshing feel while some prefer very light tea. I guess majority of my readers are Tea lovers like me. A nice cup of tea must warm you up on a heavy rainy day. A tea can really change my mood. I love to have a strong tea or strong chai in the morning and in the evening for a refreshing feel. Like so, some people love to have milk in their tea while some loves having milk powder instead.
Vegan Indian Chai Tea Masala Chai
Vegan Indian Masala Chai. Fabulous almond milk tea with fresh ginger and homemade chai spice blend with cardamom, cinnamon, pepper. Flavorful traditional Indian Chai tea made vegan. Jump to Recipe
Masala Chai was the last of the non-vegan foods to be eliminated from our diet. Hubbs and me both grew up guzzling cups of chai every morning with breakfast. It would be mostly milk and lightly flavored with tea till we hit the teens, then it was small cups every now then with friends, every time we visited anyone, at evening hang outs, in the wee hours of the morning during exams, and on and on. Dad still has a cup every 2-3 hours at work. No wonder we were so stuck to it, or more stuck to the dairy in it. The thick creamy concoction made with dairy milk, boiled for minutes and minutes, had not only the addiction from milk and tea but also several memories associated with it.
Chai in Hindi literally means tea, so Chai tea is basically tea tea This often happens with non Indian terms too. Its a translation that is helpful hence Chai tea is much bigger search term than just Chai. More Indian Beverages
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What Is My Preferred Way Of Making Masala Chai
Masala is a ground blend of sweet spices. So for masala chai, I like to first boil my spices in the water for sometime before adding anything else. In my recipe water should be first brewed with ginger and mint and then with spices in a saucepan on the stove.
Then I add tea leaves and let it boil. Then I add milk to give it a good stir and let it boil until I get a rich and beautiful dark brown color. Lastly, I add sugar and let it boil for sometime. Finally, its taken off the stove and strained into tea cups. Done!
Indian Strong Tea Karak Chai
The other day I went out with friends, we walked around the mall, bought few things, I mean everything! I love shopping it heals We sat in a coffee shop, but while there, the smell of cinnamon hit me. I was sipping coffee and craving Indian tea. Did this ever happen to you?! Maybe I should have some Indian Strong Tea.
I reached home, put all the goodies I bought in my room, checked my mail, and went to the kitchen. It was evening and tea will keep me awake but I could not help but have my aromatic Indian tea. Oh, how I miss being in India
Making tea is not difficult, but you need to get the right ingredients. Not every black tea is a good tea, some brands can actually make you hate drinking tea.
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Who Is Chai Walla
There are particular tea stalls, and the tea seller is known as chai wallah. Tea stalls are the places where tea vendors pour the tea straight from the tea kettle into small cups.
A tea stall is a favorite place during breaks for people during office hours. Even though tea is served on the desk a few times a day, but some people prefer to go to tea stalls to have tea. You know, to get the real feel.
If you visit India, you will see chai-wallas at every corner of the streets. You will see them at the train stations and almost at every public place catching the attention of passing-by people with a rhythmic sound of Chai, chai, chai Garam which means tea, tea, tea, hot tea.
In India, sutta is a term for cigarette smoking and Chai Sutta is a popular term amongst cigarette smokers. Witnessing people sitting on wooden or cane stools and enjoying a cup of hot milk tea is a common sight.
Authentic Masala Chai Try It
One nice thing about making chai is, that while brewing it in a pot, the aroma of spices will fill the air and make you anticipate the delicious drink soon to be enjoyed.
In India, it is common to sip chai throughout the day. It is consumed with food, or as a dessert with pastries or dried fruits. I usually drink chai as it is, or after a meal.
If you have never tried making authentic masala chai, I warmly recommend that you try this recipe!
It is really a tasty and fulfilling drink that you can enjoy with your family and friends.
Experiment with different ingredients to find the perfect version for your liking!
Please post a comment below and let me know what is your favorite version of chai. Or if you have any other comments or questions they are also welcome. If you tried this recipe, I would love to hear how you liked it.
You can also find many more delicious tea recipes on this site. Here are some of the most popular ones:
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How To Make Masala For Chai
You can make a small batch of Chai Masala and store it in an air-tight container for up to a month. This is super convenient for frequent Chai drinkers, as you don’t have to pound the fresh masala for chai every day.
To make chai masala, simply add 3 tbsp each of Cloves, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Fennel, Peppercorns in a spice grinder or blender. Blend until you have a coarse spice mix . Store in an airtight container for a month and use as needed.
To make Masala Chai with this Chai Masala spice mix, simply boil water with crushed fresh ginger, and 1 tsp of the spice mix. Add tea leaves, milk, and sugar and simmer for 1 minute, then turn off heat, and strain, and pour into glasses to serve hot.
Below Is My Homemade Chai Masala Powder Recipe:
Homemade chai masala powder is one such recipe which is passed down the generations in every household. Everyone has their favorite masala recipe for making incredible chai.
My homemade chai masala is a delicious blend of mint leaves, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and black pepper. The combination of these spices adds a delicious warmth to the Indian milk chai.
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What Are The Best Tea Leaves For Making Tea
The good tea leaves are indeed very crucial for making a good chai. Many people assume that the best quality tea leaves makes the best tea. For making masala chai, always use small grain tea, not whole leaves. There are many tea brands easily available at Asian/Indian grocery stores throughout the world.
How Much Sweetener Is Advisable For This Tea
Its up to you. Many people like it really sweet and others like it mildly sweet. And there are some who dont add any sugar at all. All in all, there are no hard and fast rules about how one must drink their chai. Simply follow your taste preferences.
If you want to know about my taste inclinations, then I would say that the tea should be generously sweetened. This is to make sure that you are having your tea in the most authentic way possible.
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Benefits Of Masala Chai
Chai on its own is acidic in nature. Adding the ginger and whole spices nullifies the acidic nature of the tea, and adds a number of benefits. The benefits of chai mainly come from the spices added to it. All the spices we add to the chai masala have lots of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
The main benefit of chai I feel is it reduces my fatigue. Whenever I am tired, a cup of tea always brightens me up. The tannins present in tea help calm the body and revitalize it. Tea also contains caffeine, although in much less quantity than coffee.
History Of Traditional Masala Chai
Tea plants have been growing wild in the Assam region of India for thousands of years. Earlier tea was used as herbal medicine by Indians, and the recreational consumption of tea became popular only in the 20th century through British influence.
At first, tea was consumed in a British manner with only a little milk and sugar added to it. Later Indians developed their own version by adding more milk and various spices to their tea.
In India, the street vendors who make chai are called Chai Wallahs, and each one of them has their own unique way of making the chai.
Masala chai means mixed-spiced tea and today its not popular only in India, but all over the world.
Here is a great video about chai. It gives you an insight into the culture related to this delicious drink:
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How To Make Chai Tea At Home
A recipe is not really necessary its really the method that matters.
Youll need roughly one part milk to two parts water, lots of tea leaves or tea bags, strong infusion, plenty of sugar, and optional addition of sweet spices.
Heres how to make Indian chai tea at home:
Scale the measurements below to the number of servings you need.
How To Make Masala Chai
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How To Make Milk Tea Indian Style
Masala chai or masala tea is Indias most popular drink and is loved by everyone. Imagine the flavors of brewing sweet, spicy, hot and aromatic spices with sugar, milk and tea amazing right? This masala chai is just that amazingly flavorsome, delicious and totally relaxing. A hot cup of masala chai is an amazing way to soothe your senses and refresh your mind. This post shares the method to make a perfect cup of masala chai at home!!
A lot of Indians love to sip their masala chai all-round the year along with their breakfast and evening snack. Some limit it to monsoons & cold winters because it keeps the body warm and helps break up the blocked sinus.
Many different kinds of tea are made across the world and each one has its own properties so they have different health benefits.
What Is Chai Tea
The weak tea that North Americans typically drink has the colour of dirty dishwater, almost no flavour, and no need for sugar . It is nothing close to the version drunk by millions of Indians.
Indian tea, also known as chai, is rich and milky, deeply coloured, steaming hot, and boldly flavourful with a definite need for sugar to offset the toasty bitterness.
The word chai just means tea. Chai = tea.
If you ask for chai tea in India, youre asking for tea tea and your dorky adorableness will get laughed at a little bit.
Masala chai, on the other hand, is what youre probably aiming for its the spiced version. Masala = spices.
Despite what Starbucks would have you believe, real chai doesnt start with a syrup and its not super heavily spiced. If you visit India, youll see chai-wallas on every corner, calling out chai! chai! chai! and pouring steaming tea from a height , allowing it to cool a bit as it streams into little metal cups.
Whenever my husbands parents visit, his mom makes me a steaming cup of her most delicious homemade Indian chai every morning. I start looking forward to it before I even go to bed at night. It is the tastiest tea you have ever tasted and I could drink a hundred cups a day.
Granted, she really likes my tea, too, so I have a theory that it just tastes better when someone else makes it for you, with love.
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How To Sweeten Masala Chai:
- The fourth component of Masala Chai is the sweetener. In India, jaggery or cane sugar is typically used.
- I prefer sweetening Masala Chia with maple syrup or honey instead of sugar. But any sugar, or sugar alternative will work here.
- Sweeten to your own taste. For a large 8 ounce serving, I use about 2-3 teaspoons of maple syrup to balance the spices and black tea. Perhaps this seems a bit much, but to me it tastes perfect.
- Find your own balance
Strain and serve.
And yes, it is very typical to serve chai in a glass in India, leaving some room at the top to hold the glass.
We have a few of these cute chai glasses with racks, available in our Bowl and Pitcher Shop if interested.
And there you have it, masala chai, like they make in India. A delicious morning beverage or afternoon pick-me-up.
Feel free to make this ahead, or make a huge batch and store in the fridge. Then simply pull it out from the fridge and heat up with the milk.
Happy New Year Friends! May this cozy authentic Masala Chai bring comfort and warmth to help get us all through these cold months. Serve with Spicy Chai Molasses Cookies!
Love and cheers,
- Category:drinks, tea, hot beverage
- Method:stove-top