Chai is a meditation of sorts. Chai is not just a beverage, it’s a way of life in India. Indian Masala Chai is typically made with a mix of milk and water, tea leaves, masala – a blend of various spices, ginger, and some sugar or other sweetener. There may be ingredients added or skipped from the ones listed above, but milk, water, and tea leaves is a must.
Happy International Tea Day!
Tea is a very integral part of Indian hospitality. Seldom a visitor – whether known or a stranger when visiting one’s home – is allowed to leave without having a cup of tea. A lot happens over a cup of tea. Drinking chai is a ritual that transcends all the boundaries and cultures in India.
Conversations are had; Tears are shed; Joy is expressed; and Stories are shared – everything over a cuppa masala chai.
When one is depressed – ‘chai ho jaaye ?’ which roughly translates to let’s have tea / shall we have tea?; when one is happy – chai ho jaaye?;When one is celebrating – chai ho jaaye?; when one wants to relax and curl up with a book – chai ho jaaye?
Chai is a cuppa PositiviTEA, SerendipiTEA and a lot more than just Tea 🙂
If there was one recipe which I have made thousands of time, it would be this one 🙂 All my adult life, I have had chai – once or twice a day, each day. If you were to check the blood group of most Indians, it would be Tea-Positive 🙂 Jokes apart, chai is the fuel that helps me wake up in the morning. I don’t drink it in big quantities, I drink may be half a cup or one cup – but it totally rejuvenates me and can’t think of starting my day without a cuppa chai.
According to wikipedia, since the eighteenth century, the United Kingdom has been one of the world’s greatest tea consumers, with an average annual per capita tea supply of 1.9 kg. The British Empire was instrumental in spreading tea from China to India. British interests controlled tea production in the subcontinent. Tea, which was an upper-class drink in continental Europe, became the infusion of every social class in Great Britain throughout the course of the eighteenth century and has remained so. Tea is a prominent feature of British culture and society.
There are some recipes that are so dear that these are difficult to blog about – as I always feel I might not be able to do justice in describing the recipe and honor the greatness of it. They are that high on the pedestal of recipes. Chai is one such recipe, pani puri is another 🙂 So even though, Chai is one of my favorite beverages that I cannot live without, I did not blog about Masala Chai recipe until now due to the same reason. But then I thought I need to share my love for chai and the recipe with those who may be looking for a good chai recipe. I can then continue to keep perfecting it and sharing the updates 🙂 My personal bar for perfection for my favorite recipes is rightfully quite high.
On this post, I am sharing the chai recipe, which has evolved over the years, and is always a work in progress. This is my current recipe of making chai, and it may change in next 10 days. Some day, I aspire to perfect the art and science of making tea.
Indian Masala Chai | Tea
Ingredients
- 1 cup Milk Use almond milk or soy milk for vegan version
- 1 ¼ cup Water
- 2 teaspooons Loose leaf Tea
- 1 teaspoon Sugar (or to taste). Can be replaced with other sweeteners
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon Ginger, freshly grated
- ⅛-1/4 teaspoon Chai Masala – a blend of spices typically made at home
Instructions
- Heat water and milk in a vessel. Add grated ginger, sugar. Let it come to a boil on medium heat. Add tea leaves and let it boil for about 4 minutes.
- Add chai masala. Let it boil on low to medium heat for another 4-5 minutes. Keep adjusting the flame as the tea reaches the brim of the vessel – lower the heat and then again increase it a bit, as the tea boils, stirring periodically.
The true taste of a good Indian Masala Chai is in the way it is boiled. - Turn off the heat. Strain using a strainer. Enjoy your hot cuppa masala chai!
Notes
♥ Did you like or try this recipe? If so, I would love to hear from you. Please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more delicious posts and recipes. ♥
What are some of the variations to the above masala chai recipe that can be tried?
Each of these alternative methods of preparing tea does bring slight variations in the taste of the chai as well.
One of the ways I sometimes make chai is by boiling the water and ginger first, and then adding milk when it comes to a boil. This way the water is greatly infused with ginger. One has to make sure the milk also does get boiled well in this case.
Another slight variation is to add the masala or the spice blend right at the beginning when boiling water. I have noticed that when added half way though the recipe, it brings better aroma.
Sometimes I try to make it without using the masala or spice blend, and instead just adding ginger or lemon grass, or Indian basil (tulsi), or mint.
At times the chai is also made without any of the above herbs, or the masala. I personally do not prefer the taste of the tea made that way.
What are the different types of Chai made in India:
Kulhad Chai or Kulhar Chai:
In many parts of India the tea-stalls or chai ki kitlee as it is called, sells chai in kulhad or clay cups. The taste of tea served this way is absolutely amazing and unique. These clay cups or Kulhar are single-use cups, hence making it a very hygienic way of consuming tea.
Adrak wali chai or Ginger Tea:
In this particular version, only ginger is used to spice the tea, and the spice blend isn’t used. Though it is quite common, as depicted in the recipe above, to use both ginger and the masala together.
Masala Chai
Masala chai is the one made with the spice blend, typically made at home, as it is very fresh and aromatic. The spice blend constitutes of a combination of various spices, that can be changed based on personal taste. Typically it has spices like cinnamon sticks, cardamom, dried ginger powder, black pepper, cloves etc. Some of the spice blends, especially in northern part of India also uses black cardamom or badi elaichi, as well as saunf. I will post the recipe to make this fresh aromatic home made spice blend soon.
Tandoori Chai
Tandoori chai is made by heating up the clay cups in a tandoor or clay oven. Once the cup is hot enough, it is kept in a vessel and the hot prepared chai is strained directly into this cup. This creates a boiling effect
High Tea:
This is a British practice – it is a a meal eaten in the late afternoon or early evening, typically consisting of a cooked dish, bread and butter, and tea.
Chai Tea Latte:
This is quite an oxymoron as Chai and Tea are the same 🙂 Chai is what it’s called in Hindi, what Tea is called in English. This version has become extremely popular with the current non-Indian generation. More often than not, this is a tea available at the American chain of cafes, prepared using tea leaves/bags, steamed and frothed milk, and some syrup, with some added flavors/spices at times. Personally, not a preferred version for me and this tea tastes quite different than the Indian masala chai that we are talking about in this post.
Peppermint Chai:
Few years ago, one day while I was making tea during the Holiday Season, I was all meditative – that’s how I am when making tea, but we digress – I thought of crushing some peppermint candy canes and adding it to tea. I didn’t think it would be that delicious – but it turned out oh so yummy! Didn’t know a pinch of crushed candy cane can invoke Christmas! Try it out for yourself this holiday season – Peppermint Chai
Sunshine in a Cup:
A bit of sweet, a bit of tart, a bit of spicy, a bit of tangy, and a whole lot of awesomeness in a cup. All 5 ingredients in this recipe are superfoods, and together, it’s pure gold – a miraculous combination, hence I rightly came up with this name of the recipe: Sunshine in a Cup. It truly felt like Sunshine!! This is a tea made without milk. One time when I had crazy severe cold, I just got tired of medicines and started adding all these ingredients to make this tea and it turned out great. Now I have this tea even when I don’t have cold.
There are many different versions of tea, like the English tea, tea prepared with tea bags etc. etc. but we’ll have that discussion some other day.
What are some popular snacks that are consumed with Indian Masala Chai?
Parle-G aur Chai:
The reference of Parle-G aur chai brings back nostalgia and lots of beautiful childhood memories. There might be hardly anyone brought up in India who hasn’t tried or doesn’t like Parle-G biscuits and Chai. For me, it used to be my meal many a times 🙂 Dunking Parle-G in Chai is what childhood is made of in India 🙂 Though many might agree – dunking the Parle-G in chai is an art in itself – making the biscuit soft and moist, but taking it out from the chai right before it breaks and gets diluted in tea. If there was an award for perfecting that art, I am confident I would get one. Nostalgia re-visited 🙂
Pakora aur Chai:
Pakora, especially onion fritters, called kanda bhaji, and chai are an inevitable combination on a rainy day in India, or even for Indians living outside India 🙂 Here is my post depicting experience of Kanda bhaji and hot masala chai in Bay Area rains.
Aloo Paratha aur Chai:
These go together like chalk and cheese! A good aloo paratha with masaledar chai tastes absolutely delicious together. This is considered the best breakfast in Northern part of India.
Vada Pav aur Chai:
Chai goes well with Indian Street Food Vada Pav, which is also lovingly called Indian burger. You may check out my post of Vada Pav | An Ode to the Street Food of Mumbai over here.
Tips on making good Masala Chai:
- It is important to boil the milk and water well, so as to avoid the raw milk taste.
- If using ginger or adrak, using a good quality one is of utmost importance – it can easily elevate the taste of the chai.
- I find the perfect taste in using half milk, half water. Some people like it more milky tea, some others like it more watery.
- Sometimes adding mint or pudina to chai also makes it delicious. Tulsi or Indian basil is another ingredient that goes well. Lemon grass is another herb that is liked by many in their chai. One may also skip the masala and use either of these ingredients like ginger, mint, Indian basil, lemon grass etc.
♥ Did you like or try this recipe? If so, I would love to hear from you. Please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more delicious posts and recipes. ♥
Deesha
Where did u find the yellow tea cup
Sonal
Hi Deesha, I bought it from Anthropologie.
Lynn Gwyneth
I love this recipe because it gives the correct ration of water to milk: something that I’ve been getting wrong without realizing it! Too much milk in my chai, and it was ruining the taste. More water did the trick. I sweeten mine with maple syrup, so it’s really Canadian/American/Indian Masala!
And I love pani puri too! I just use the pre-made fried “shells” from the New India Bazaar. 2 boxes of 32 each for $5. It’s such warming, filling food for a cold day! Thank you for this, Sonal!
Sonal
Thank you for your feedback, Lynn. I am glad the post was helpful. Yes, I keep trying different ratios and this somehow has worked perfectly for me. And yes, don’t we all love pani-puris? 🙂
Judy
I want to try the Chai but have several questions; what kind of tea leaf – black, green, etc., what are the ingredients and amounts for Chai Masala? Thank you.
Sonal
Hey Judy,
Great question – I will also update the blog with this detail. I use loose leaf black tea from Taj Mahal brand or Vagh Bakri brand. All of these are available on Amazon and many other grocery stores.
In regards to the recipe for Chai Masala, I’ll give you a quick one here – take 1-2 cardamom pods, 1/8 inch piece cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder (if handy, if not can skip it and use fresh grated ginger in tea). Grind this powder and use about 1/8 teaspoon for 2 cups of tea. This is a very quick version of masala in a small quantity. You can make this in bigger batches and use it for a couple of months. Hope this helps.
Sangeeta sethi
I truly loved all variants of tea .lovely collection of tea varieties n their preparation .
Eat More Art
Thank you dear Sangeeta 🙂