Masala Chai, Indian Spiced Milk Tea.

Masala Chai, the famous Indian spiced tea is loved by everyone in India. It is brewed with Milk, black tea ( could be from Assam or Darjeeling or Kerala … ) along with several spices which gives a unique sweet&spicy aroma. Chai = tea , also known as milk tea. 

I hate to break the bad news but there is no particular recipe for Chai (which I will further refer as tea). Yes every household has their own way of making it. Some only add Elaichi (cardamom) , some add fresh crushed ginger alone, some add both, for masala tea – people add several spices together. I will give some famous combinations and you can try whichever you like. 

Lets see the spices usually used in the tea.

-Cardamom

-Ginger ( fresh or dry)

-Cloves

-Cinnamon

-Nutmeg

-Anise

-Fennel

-Peppercorns…

Lemon grass is also sometimes used in brewing the tea. Usually fresh ginger is crushes to release juices and then added to the tea to get the most taste and flavor from ginger. Dry ginger is also used but less quantity should be used as it is more stronger. 

Here are few spice combinations, 

• Just cardamom
• Just ginger
• cardamom + ginger (My favorite)
• cardamom + cloves + cinnamon 
• cardamom + cloves + cinnamon + peppercorns
• cardamom + cloves + cinnamon + nutmeg + ginger

Several variations are there for tea,

Adrak(ginger) chai, cutting chai, Kadak chai, Irani chai, Gujarati chai and more … each variation uses the above mentioned spices with different combinations and brewing times also vary. 

We have Tea along with breakfast, evening snacks(check my mirchi bajji post), sometimes in lunch time, when we are having headaches or if we have to pull a allnighter for an exam.. anytime of the day I am up for tea. Also Tea is very good for digestion and also good for tummy because of all the spices we add. 

The color and flavor of the tea depends upon the brand of tea used, amount of tea used, how much time you brew etc. So make sure you try to get good tea for the best tea. Stronger tea can be made using little more black tea , this is especially helpful in reducing the headaches.

NOTE :  Some people do not add water and some people add. Adding water before milk gives a nice color faster and takes less time to prepare tea, as the color is already achieved through adding water. If you add only milk, it will take long time to get the desired color( or you may not achieve the deep color but this will not effect the taste of the tea) 

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Watch the video below to see how I make tea.