Masala chai: guiders manual

Vibhu Jindal

Ideal Tea Mix should have:

Cardamom, Saffron, almond, Pistachio, ginger( slightly not too much....it shouldnt over-power other flavours)

sometimes hint of local essence called Kewda or Khus in the masala also makes nice Tea masalas

Nick-H

I'm very surprised to see Earl Grey on the list of a tea purist!

I'll take my tea with spice any day, but I draw the line at perfume! Adding oil of Bergamot is a great way to ruin a good cup of tea

...and I would add clove, pepper and nutmeg to that list.

I'm afraid that I buy commercial mixes, and have found a good one hard to find in Chennai until I found the one available from Nuts & Spices shops.

In UK I used Niharti Tea Spice available from London Indian shops.

Experimenting could be fun, but I would rather be able to rely on the flavour of my tea: attempting to make my own would be adventurous, but it would probably be different every time!

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Vibhu Jindal

i dont think Earl gray deserves such harsh comments.....it is a nice variation......and if i dislike earl gray on the ground that it has some added element then every flavoured tea would have to fall out of my favour.

and i like nutmeg and pepper in masala but not clove and definately not cinnamon

Nick-H

Oh what a wonderfully individual thing a cup of tea is!

Vibhu Jindal

indeed Nick...... Indeed.........

Sagar-ji

All right...enough interesting ideas for some wicked experiments!

Hopefully i ll find the magic recepi!!!

thanks a lot guys

beebah

I'm not a fan of ordinairy tea but I was persuaded to join the world legion of sippers by my introduction to teh "perfumed" taste of earl grey. However I would love to bring home some top notch stuff for the fanatics back home, where can I get the best stuff in Delhi and what do I ask for?

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Vibhu Jindal

Darjeeling Muscatela or Orange peako

if possible kashmiri kahwas tea leaf mix

aadil

The Kashmiri Kahwa which is one of my favourites otherwise I prefer the Darjeeling FTGFOP (Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) First or Second Flush tea for the lighter varieties and Assam for the stronger type though the Nilgiri tea is pretty good (and cheaper too) in the lighter variety. You can get some good tea from many of the emporiums but may be a bit expensive too. Don't know any shops in Delhi but there are a couple of good ones in Mumbai where you can get the good teas in normal as well as gift packs. Worth checking some of them out if you wish. The Bombay Store at PM Road and the Tea Centre at Churchgate are two of the good places in Mumbai where you can buy your tea and the latter is also a great place to have it in a restaurant with a great setting too.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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eater

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sagar-ji hi IM! I have some serious problems here: i have bought some masala chai powder (with cardamom and other spices) in kerala but i don t know how to make it! Is there anyone with some experience here? appreciate your help! Sagar-ji

Here's a good reference for making an excellent Masala Chai....

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-chai-tea.htm

Enjoy, Sagar a nice cuppa !!

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wichy

That's the way I make a masala-tea (I think it's not original... but I've tried a lot of recipes and me and my friends stop at this one - I like the taste and consistence).
For 100 g of milk (about 3.2-3.8% fat) 1.5 teaspoon of black tea (like big leaf tea... but don't pay much attention to the sort) and about 1/4 - 1/3 teaspoon of masala. Firstly I boil milk - when it's boiled, add tea and spices (I don't add shugar.. but if you like to - add it too), than let it shimmer about 3-5 min under the lid. After that strain your tea to the cup.
The problem is to wash clean the pot after cooking

Nick-H

The mystery to making chai is simple to solve: find the combination that suits you!

Whether that is a particular make of masala powder, or your own combination of spices...

The simmering is important though: it brings out the sweetness in the milk.

Rich Anpoor

vibhu, you sound just like me when I talk about coffee. A purist.

Only started drinking chai since I came to India but have yet to do a taste-test on pure teas.

I just love black pepper in my masala chai (lots of it), does anyone else do this? Ooh, that spicy kick! Lovely.

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aadil

Oh yeah, if you're nursing a cold then it is a good way to get some relief if you add powdered pepper to the chai.

Cheers,
Aadil.

Nick-H

Yes, pepper is one of the standard tea masala ingredients.

Overdoing it leads to what I call 'curried tea'. Can be good sometimes!