Indian Masala Chai Recipe

An authentic Indian Masala Chai recipe, this tea is spiced with cardamom, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and fennel seeds. This is a hot, sweet beverage that is the original tea in which chai tea lattes got their inspiration

Inside any coffee shop in America you will find Chai Tea Latte on the menu, or at least some variation of the Indian inspired beverage.  It is now as ubiquitous as a cappuccino.  These popular drinks are on the sweeter side and are usually made with a liquid flavoring added to tea and topped with whipped cream or foamed milk.  I am excited to show you how to make authentic, Indian masala chai, not a latte with flavored syrup, the real deal!  Consider this the clean drinking of chai.

Chai, which means tea, originated in India and is a blend of tea with spices and herbs.  Also known as chay (Persian) or cha (Chinese), masala chai has five basic components; tea,milk, ginger, sugar and cardamom.  Every household has their own masala (spice) recipe which may include black pepper for heat, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and fennel seeds.  You can vary the ratios for personal preference.  Instead of making the spice combination every time you make a cuppa, a spice blend is made in a large batch and kept in an airtight container out of direct sunlight and added to your tea as you make it.

Masala chai is made on the stovetop in a pan where water and milk is brought to a simmer, then tea, masala and sugar is added, stirring near constantly for a few minutes.  This is then strained through a fine mesh sieve into cups.  It is somewhat important to not heat your tea too long as bitter tannins can be released and give an odd aftertaste, as with all teas.  I don’t like to brew or simmer tea longer than 3 minutes so I always add this after my water is at the temperature I want.  Note that white and green teas are optimized at a lower temperature than simmering so you may want to plan for that if you are substituting teas.  I use either darjeeling tea or an assam tea, both can easily be found at your local Indian market or you can buy Organic Darjeeling Tea Leaves from the Himalayas on Amazon.

Save some money and enjoy the real deal in the comfort of your own home.  In about 5 minutes you could be sipping some masala chai awesomeness.

This delighted college girl gave this recipe two thumbs up which is also known as the Princess seal of approval.  She said she’s going to make a big thermos of this in the dorm kitchen and keep it in her room.

Namaste.

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