Help! Tea Making Question

Hey all,

First time poster here. I have a quick question for everyone. When I was in college, I had an Indian roommate. And he use to make this WONDERFUL tea. When he headed back to India, he left me a box of it and directions on how to make it. Fast forward to now, and I've graduated, moved, and have lost the directions. My question to you all is how do I make it?!! I know all he used was: milk, sugar, the tea, and boiled water. I still have the box. On it is Taj Mahal tea from Brooke Bond. Any help would be most appreciated! Thanks.



Andrew

The secret is to mix the milk, water, tea and sugar all together at the beginning and boil it all up together and then simmer it for a minute or three. Use much more milk than the mere dash we use to make English tea: at least half or even more. Chai is a milk drink!

Massala Chai (Oh bliss...) is the next level of tea heaven: tea with spice! Try to find an Indian store near you that sells Tea Massala. Add about one quarter teaspoon per cup.

You could use the ingredients list on the tea massala packet as the starting point to make your own, but hey! so many cups of tea to drink, so little time to make them in

Heat 2 cups of water in a kettle/pan till it starts boiling.
Add 2 spoons tealeaves to the boiling water and let it boil for a min more.
Add a cup of milk to itand let it boil for 2 min. more.
Add sugar to taste. Chai is ready.

PS: For special tea, you can add a spoonfull of cardamom powder along with tealeaves.

Enjoy!

Just want to comment on the differences between the two methods posted -- boiling the milk from the get-go vs. boiling towards the end. It just depends on if you like that boiled milk taste. Try it both ways and you will taste the difference. Personally, I think the boiled milk taste is nice if also using tea masala. If I am not using spices or only cardamom &/or ginger, then I prefer the milk not to be boiled too much. Be careful not to scald the milk -- the heat should be just high enough to bring to a slow boil -- no higher.

Also, a warning if you you have never boiled milk -- keep an eye on it, so it doesn't boil over. And use a pot which is ~3x as big as the amount of water you are using. I don't know why milk froths and expands like that, but this has happened to me when boiling milk for custard.

Another thing: If your tea is loose -- not in bags - you will need a fine strainer. You should strain and serve the tea just after it is finished boiling, otherwise it will acquire a bitter taste.

But Guys,
You've all missed mentioning the magic ingredient,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Chai isn't chai unless it's been poured from an arms length height into another container a couple of times,ie from glass to glass or pot to glass,,,,

Can't remember whose it was but 4 or 5'ish months past there was a great photo ('seem to remember it was b&w') posted of a chai walla doing just that,,,,,,,,,,,,

Seventies, that really is optional ...unless you're in a real hurry to drink it and need to cool it down. Well, that's my opinion, some say that it does afect the flavour.

Here's my Quick Eay Way to make a mug-full (which I do between 3 to 6 times a day...)

place tea, sugar, milk, water and optional spice in large jug.
Microwave for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes depending on quantity, ratio of milk to water and micorwave power.

The reason for the large jug is that it won't boil over even if it boils vigorously.

It certainly does effect the flavour if it isn't aeriated,,,,,,,,,,
But Microwave, ha ha,,,,,,, No, Dhooni

Hey, Seventies! We have to embrace new technology ...sometimes

As others have already mentioned, there are many ways of making tea.
Most probably, he'd have boiled everything at the same time till it
achieved a light/dark coppery colour. Then strained it & served it.

For those trying to make masala chai, here's a simple way to get close
to it.

Take a handful of cardamom & cloves and if possible dried ginger, all
in equal measure. Use a blender to make a coarse powder and store in
an airtight box. Usually, you'd manage to get the cardamom & cloves
as whole & ginger only as powder; no matter,it'll still work except
that the ginger flavour does not come out quite as well compared to
freshly ground ginger.

Please note, you could increase the proportion of any particluar
spice, if you desire your tea to taste more or less in the same
direction. I'm not a big fan of cloves, so I usually blend only a
quarter the amount when compared to cardamom as I prefer a more
cardamomy/gingery taste to my tea.

The only way to get it as you desire is to blend a small portion and
see whether it makes for good taste when made with tea. Repeat till
you get a nice flavour and then make a whole load of the masala mix.

Yeah I know,
T'is I jesting

This is the ingredients list from my packet of Niharti Chai Garam Masala...

Cardamon, Cinnamon, Cloves, Black Pepper, Ginger, Nutmeg

Friends:
A Gujarati friend of ours makes tea flavored only with fresh crushed ginger - wonderfully spicy.

Here's my routine:
1 c milk / 1 c water
2 tsp tea (I like Nilgiri or Assam ctc teas)
6 green cardamom pods
2 cloves
1/4 tsp fennel seed
1 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp fresh ginger root
2 whole black peppercorns
sugar to taste
Throw it in a pot and boil 5-10 minutes, strain and serve.

This is a "family" recipe of a Punjabi acquaintance.
The ingredients and amounts are approximate and of course completely variable depending on what's on hand.

Can also be dicovered here.

India edge, yes, I do think that tea needs pepper! Such a delicious bite

I don't think I could get on with fennel though. Such a personal thing, this spice combination!