I’m a tea fanatic, I drink tea every day in winter and in summer. My ultimate favorite is Chai masala. The best ones I’ve had were in India. It’s actually one of the best memory I keep from my first visit in this country. My friend and I could simply not stop ourselves from having a masala chai break whenever we could.
In Europe we often order Chai tea, chai tea latte. Originally, in Hindi Chai means “tea” and masala means spice. That’s why in India we call this beverage Chai masala (spiced tea). An authentic Chai masala is not just tea, it’s a strong, sweet, silky, delicious drink, traditionally made with black tea, thick buffalo milk and way too much sugar. What makes it special is the use of spices.
In India, each person has its own recipe and unique combination and it can be tasted at every single corner. There is no right way nor perfect way to make Chai masala, if like me you’re an addict, you can simply find your own perfect combination. Here’s mine…
Preparation time: 20 min
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients
- Fresh ginger roots
- 5 green cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 1 cup of water (1/4 L)
- Organic black leaf tea (2 tablespoons) or 2 black tea bags
- 1 cup of milk (soy, oat, almond, coconut – as you prefer)
- 1.5 tablespoon of coconut sugar / agave syrup
Preparation
- Cut the ginger in slices. Add as much as you want. I usually put a lot of ginger because I really like the extra spiciness
- Crush the spices (cardamom pods, cloves, anis)
- Bring 1 cup of water to boil
- Add the crushed spices, ginger slices and the tea to the water. Let it boil for 2 minutes, then let it steep on a low flame for about 10 min.
- Add 1 cup of milk and bring the tea to simmer again for a couple minutes. For a thicker, richer tea, use less water and more milk.
- Sweeten your tea by adding the coconut sugar or agave syrup.
- Strain and serve
Notes
I prefer to use organic soy or oat milk, wereas the indian tradition would rather be to use whole milk. Choose what you like most.
To sweeten my tea I like to use 1.5 tablespoon coconut sugar or a dosis of agave syrup. You can choose to add brown sugar instead.
