Happy Happy Chai Chai recipies

Please, please can somebody send me a recipie for good chai? I have been experimenting with what I thought/was in it but my results have been very disappointing.

I want to close my eyes and be in India when I drink it!

Many thanks

This one's from my Indian Vegetarian cookbook. Haven't tried it but it looks about right:

MASALA CHAI (makes 2 1/2 to 3 cups)

2 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon tea masala (see below)
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons loose tea leaves
1/4 cup or more milk
sugar to taste

Place the water and tea masala in a stainless steel saucepan or kettle that can be washed, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tea leaves (the amount depending on the variety of the tea and the strength required). Continue to boil for about 1 minute, then add the milk. Boil once more, strain, and pour. Serve with sugar on the side (personally, I'd add the sugar when I added the milk).

TEA MASALA

1 black cardamom pod
Seeds from 25 green cardamom pods
4 cloves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon carom seeds (need an Indian market for these)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Grind the cardamom pod and seeds, cloves, fennel seeds, peppercorns, and carom seeds in a spice grinder until fine. then add the ginger and cinnamon. Grind once more to mix the spices. Remove to a small bottle and store in a cool dark place. This blend stays fresh for about 6 months.

(might want to try a cofee grinder or a blender if you don't have a spice grinder)

Got this chai recipe handed to me at a festival a couple of years ago. Made some today and it was pretty good.... although possibly creamier than an Indian masala chai (we make good milk here in NZ though!!). If you stick in lots of sugar, sway from side to side, and drink it from one of those little clay cups you managed to get home without it smashing in your bag, you could pretend you were on a train from Varanasi to Mumbai....especially if you can get a friend to walk past chanting "Chai, chai" in a nasal angry bumblebee voice.

just checking

chai....chai...chai...chai...c hai....

Hope you don't mind Maree, I lightened the image a little since it's a little dark.
One thing though, if someone is making this, in the US granulated sugar is the most popular sugar and doesn't seem to work well with making chai. I have made chai at home and found Raw Sugar from Hawaii to be the best to bring the sweetness to what one finds at a chai stall. Usually available in the markets as Sugar in the Raw.

Mike

You can reuse the spices by wrapping them in a bit of muslin (I have some leftover bits of bandage that work quite well). The recipe specifies tea leaves, but I think most of the vendors in India I saw had dust in their strainers, which seemed to be reused a few times... I suspect the reuse makes it taste more authentic, like refrying dal the next day mulls the flavours.

I loved the artwork on this recipe - more, please!

Slightly confused by the "...should be brewed at least three times a day." The same chai? Only desperate chai wallahs reheat old stuff in India

yeah one (or more ) chais a day keep all troubles away!!
it s also nice to put some black pepper ´(grains) in the chai..
you can get get the special chai taste by not cleaning the teapot so often
turkish black tea powder is quite similiar to the tea you get in india.
also one should try honey instead of sugar

chai is the best to forget all the noise in this world!

or just second if somebody prefers some cold beers


a good chai always should be followed by a nice sweet paan !!!

I took it to mean make 3 fresh batches a day.

And yes...most vendors use a type of tea dust - you could rip open a couple of tea bags, I guess.

You may find the Brooke Bond, Taj Mahal and Lipton brands of tea if you chance upon an Indian grocery store (there are plenty in the Bay Area, Calif). Dunno about NZ though.

(old joke)
Why did Brooke Shields refuse to marry James Bond?
Because she did not want to be known as Brooke Bond.