Making ‘watered-down’ chai spicy, sweet, delicious
I’ve never been to India and so I’ve never had authentic masala chai served on the street in tin cups. Nonetheless, I’ve gotten to know our watered-down American version of chai pretty well. Those of us that are connoisseurs of the milky, spiced beverage know how widely it can vary from overly sweet and thick to spicy and hot. This version is somewhere between the two with a good dose of spice and a little sweet honey comfort.
Headed to the library for a long night? Take a study break and make yourself some chai to bring with you. It’ll give you a caffeine boost and warm you up on one of these chilly, clear December nights.
This chai is made with ground spices, as they are easy to cook with and provide instant gratification. For a more robust chai, if you’ve got the time, try using whole spices. That means use chopped fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks and whole cardamom pods. If you go this route, you will need to cook the mixture for much longer so add the spices to the water at the start, simmer five minutes, remove the tea bags, add the milk and honey, taste and add ground spices if necessary and then strain out the spices before serving. A great place to buy spices in Walla Walla is Super One where you can buy bulk spices by the ounce for cheap in the Huckleberry’s section. Here you can fill up some little baggies of spices and throw them in some jars at home.
Masala Chai Tea
2 cups water
4 bags black tea (Darjeeling or a standard like English Breakfast or Lipton’s)
2 cups milk (regular or soy)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
In a pot, heat water to boiling. Add tea bags. Reduce heat and simmer five minutes. Remove tea bags and stir in remaining ingredients. Heat until wisps of steam rise from the surface of the chai. Serve hot.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator and drink cold or reheat as desired.
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