Northern Indian Chai Masala

So a long time ago I posted a recipe for chai tea.  Now that I've been to India I've found that I have a new love for chai and a completely new understanding for the different flavors of chai.  Depending on where you are in India they make their chai masala completely different.

On a side note, me and my traveling companions were completely confused by the 'chai masala' term they were using for the tea we were drinking... that is until we had someone explain to us that the term 'chai' means tea and the term 'masala' means spiced.  So spiced tea... which is exactly what it is.  It also made me laugh because in the US when we say chai tea we are, essentially, say 'tea tea.'  Our friend Dheeraj at one of our guest houses thought it was hilarious so he also started calling it 'tea tea.'

Dheeraj and his dad also gave us their chai recipe that I've now made since I've been back home in Cambodia so I figured I would share what I made.

Tea Tea

Me with Chai in India

1 1/2 c water
2 1/2 c milk
3 T black tea
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t cardamom
1/2 t ginger
3 T sugar

Add water, milk and black tea to a pot over medium heat.  Once boiling turn off add pepper, cardamom and ginger and then turn back to medium again.

Now you want to bring to a boil 3 times (basically let it start boiling over so the boils almost hit the top of the pot, turn off the heat, once the bubbles are gone turn the heat back on, let it boil over, and then do the same thing again).

Add the sugar.  Stir it up.  Strain and drink :)


Now, this is close to their recipe except they used waaaaay more sugar (at least double it).

If you want to change it up a bit, my favorite is to decrease the pepper to 1/4 t pepper, add 2 cloves, add 1/4 t cinnamon and use about 1 T sugar.

You could also google search Indian Masala Chai Recipes and get many more ideas on fun chai recipes.