Ever make this from scratch? I never had, and am glad I did.
For me, there is something special about sitting down, tray in hand, with a lovely pot of tea and whatever accoutrements you might want – honey, sugar, milk, cream, a pretty spoon, a lovely tea cup or pot too. And a tray. That tray above I purchased in France decades ago and brought it home in my suitcase. I use it often – usually for a platter of cheese and crackers. I’ve been careful about not ever putting anything greasy right on the rattan so it wouldn’t stain. I have several trays that are the right size for tea. The pot is Ralph Lauren (and I have 4 lovely mugs to go with it – one is in the picture) I purchased for a song many years ago at Home Goods. I love this teapot. But then, I love ALL of my teapots. Mostly I’m a coffee drinker, but in the winter I really enjoy tea either mid-morning or mid-afternoon in addition to my morning latte.
Every weekend (during the traditional school year) I attend a bible study about 5-6 miles away, where about 250 other Christian women attend to study for a morning. It’s called CBS (Community Bible Study). It’s a wonderful program and I’ve been doing it for about 8-9 years now. What I like about it is that it makes you think. No offhand thoughts you might pen in 30 seconds. This study makes you refer to other bible passages, makes you read between the lines. To analyze and consider the place and culture of the time. There’s about 60-90 minutes of homework required each week. So this particular day, I made myself the pot of masala chai to sip on as I did my homework. It took a little bit of work to gather together all of the spices needed – some were close at hand, others I had to go hunting for in my pantry (like the cinnamon sticks). I keep some of the lesser-used ones in a bin in the wine cellar.
Oh my, does that make me laugh. If Dave were here, he’d be all over me with the various stuff I now store in the wine cellar. He’d be telling me to get this stuff outta-there – various pasta, a whole drawer of teas (that’s where I had to go to find plain black tea) and lots of extra herbs and spices. I store my rabbit fur coat down there (the wine cellar is below ground, underneath the garage in my house, has its own A/C system and I keep it at 58°F), and about 3-4 dozen various types of fancy wine glasses too. They’re boxed up as I don’t use them much. That would make him sad. I keep winnowing away at the wines in the cellar. I’m taking a trip in a month or so to visit some wineries in central California. Do I need more wine? Nope. But I’ll probably buy some anyway – maybe some rose and a few whites. I don’t drink white wine, except sparkling, like Champagne or Prosecco, but I need some for guests now and then. What I don’t need is any red wine. I opened a good bottle recently and only had a glass or so out of it. I need to throw out the rest. It’s been sitting on my kitchen counter for at least 2 weeks.
So, back to chai tea. Here’s what went into the spice mix – cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamom pods, whole cloves and fresh ginger. I used my pounder and hacked or smashed everything a little bit. All of it went into a small pot and was simmered with 2 cups of water, on my range for 10 minutes. Then the black tea was added and that steeped for 5 minutes. That’s all. Just 15 minutes total (not counting my scurrying around trying to find all the ingredients). Then it was strained and went into my piping hot tea pot (I swished a cup or so of boiling water in the pot first to warm it up) and the cup of hot milk. Onto the tray it all went. I use some kind of alternative sweetener. I’d prefer honey, but I’m trying not to eat much sugar if I can. The recipe came from a blog I read, Cooking with Amy.
I poured out a cup of the tea and enjoyed every bit of that mug-full. The rest of the tea I put in a glass in my refrigerator – I poured it over ice today.
What’s GOOD: loved the subtle-ness of this chai – the stuff I order at coffee places are way too heavily spiced and so sweet. This is not. It’s nuanced. Light. Lovely.
What’s NOT: nothing other than it does take 15-20 minutes to make. If you thought you’d want some, more often, make a mixture of the whole spices and then whack it just before making, along with the fresh ginger. Although, you want an even amount of each spice, so I’m not sure that’s a good idea, on second thought. I think you need to make up the spice mixture each time.
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Masala Chai Tea
Recipe By: Cooking with Amy (blog) 2020
Serving Size: 2-3
4 cardamom — pods
4 black peppercorns
3 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
2 thick slices fresh ginger
2 cups water
2 tea bags — or 1 tablespoon loose black tea
1 cup milk — or more to taste (dairy or non-dairy)
Sweetener—white sugar – or honey, or artificial sugar
NOTE: You may also add a little grating of nutmeg to this mixture, if desired, and a tiny little drop of vanilla. As expensive as vanilla beans are, these days, I would not use a vanilla bean in this – that would be too much, IMHO.
1. Crush the cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon and bash the ginger slices, but do not grind any of it completely.
2. In a pot combine the water and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer over low heat, covered for 10 minutes. Add the tea and turn off the heat. Cover again and let steep for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk in the microwave just until below a boil.
3. Into a warmed teapot, strain the tea, add the milk and add sweetener to taste, or allow guests to add sweetener of their choice (or not).
Per Serving: 116 Calories; 5g Fat (32.0% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 11mg Cholesterol; 67mg Sodium.
hddonna
said on February 10th, 2020:
A love of teapots–and tea! Yet another thing we have in common. That’s a very pretty teapot in the photo! I also love blue-white-and-yellow (as well as just blue and white). I’ve made a few versions of homemade chai over the years. The suggestion to crush and bash the spices is new to me, and an excellent idea. I’d make chai more often if it didn’t really need to be sweetened to be satisfying. No-calorie sweeteners, including stevia, leave a nasty, lingering aftertaste for me, so when I do go for something like this, I use a minimal amount of honey, brown sugar, or maple syrup. There’s an interesting recipe for “Real Chai” on the Splendid table website; it’s by tea expert Bill Waddington, and it relies on a base made with sweetened condensed milk and spices, which is then stirred into strong brewed black tea. I always thought it would be way too sweet for me, but just checked the recipe, and you only need to use a half teaspoon to a heaping teaspoon of the mixture in a cup of tea. A half-teaspoon wouldn’t be so bad. It would be necessary to make it when there were other people around who would also drink it, though–a 14-oz. can of condensed milk would go a really long way at that rate!
I’ll have to go in search of that recipe, Donna. I’m with you about artificial sweetener. I don’t mind Truvia in tea, but by far, honey is my favorite. But that recipe with sweetened condensed milk would go a long way. Too bad they don’t produce half cans. You COULD make your own – there are recipes all over for home made sweetened condensed milk, so you could make a much smaller quantity. Might be worth trying. . . .carolyn t
Donna Woerth
said on February 10th, 2020:
Actually, I think Bill also has a recipe for homemade sweetened condensed milk there with the tea recipe. Just noticed it in the search results when I looked up the chai recipe. Just search “chai” on the Splendid Table website, and it will come right up.