Masala Chai - South Asian Recipe

Masala Chai

🌍 South Asian, India (pan-regional) Difficulty: ●●●○○

India became a tea-drinking nation because the British promoted chai to sell Assam plantation surplus — before that, chai was coffee country.

Ingredients

• 400 ml water
• 200 ml full-fat milk
• 2 tsp strong black tea (Assam CTC)
• 2 tsp sugar (adjust to taste)
• 4 green cardamom pods, cracked
• 2 cloves
• 1 small cinnamon piece
• ½ in fresh ginger, sliced
• 2 peppercorns

Method

1. Step 1 — Bring water to boil with all spices. Simmer 5 min to extract flavours.
2. Adding — Add milk; bring back to boil.
3. Adding — Add tea; simmer 2–3 min (strength to taste).
4. Adding — Add sugar; stir. Strain into cups through fine sieve.
5. Pouring — Pour back and forth between pot and cup (cutting) for frothy top.

Tags: full-fat milk, strong black tea, sugar, green cardamom pods, cloves · Source: Brittani's Almanac