I’ve never been to India, but I can imagine the Chai Wallahs calling out to draw passersby into their stall! A custom blend is poured into a clay cup, and when finished the cup is thrown onto the ground. The scented air must be intoxicating. Westerners generally know Chai as a cloyingly sweet concoction served in a paper cup at most coffee shops. The Chai recipe you’re about to encounter is hardly Western, it’s adapted straight from an Indian kitchen. Oh, and by the way…”Chai” means tea, so when you say Chai tea, you’re saying tea, tea which doesn’t really make sense. Cheerio!
I’ve loved Chai since the first time I had it at that coffee shop that everyone goes to but hardly anyone really likes… Making it at home was a logical step for a “homemade has to be better” foodie like myself. I had researched and found that boiling the spices was a key to good Chai. However, boiling them in water made a less than amazing cup. I also thought that the tea shouldn’t be boiled, because all of my tea training said to never boil tea, and certainly don’t steep for 10, 20, or 30 minutes! Perfection came when I found this blog: The Hathi Cooks. This gal lives in America, but was raised in an Indian home with apparent amazing food. I tweaked her recipe for our tastes, used her method, and voila! The best chai ever! What makes it so delicious? See our tips below.
Use plain, old tea like bagged organic, Lipton tea. It may not be great on its own, but it makes beautiful Chai. You don’t have to buy expensive tea! I don’t use bagged tea, because I have loose tea readily available, though I use an inexpensive blend.
Make your own spice blend to suite your taste. The black pepper and ginger are sources of spicy heat, so adjust accordingly.
Use anywhere from 3 parts milk and 1 part water to 2 parts milk and 2 parts water, depending on how rich you’d like your Chai.
You’ll need an inexpensive kitchen scale for this recipe. Trust us, you’ll be so glad you have a scale in your kitchen.
We love a little bite to eat with most any kind of tea. In our home, Chai gets a salty bite to balance the sweet and spicy. We recommend:
Author: Truly Blissful
Recipe type: Beverage
Ingredients
Instructions
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Takes , serves 1 jar.
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