Every once in a while, regardless of the weather you might want to sit down and enjoy a quiet moment with a hot drink and a good book or have a party with some good food, laughs and a batch of ‘Feel Good Masala Chai’.
Now there are many recipes out there and you may have a favorite one- this one is special to me because its a throwback to my architecture school days in Bombay of ‘cutting chai’ on the way to college and masala chai with butter pav in Colaba.
Ginger, pepper, cardamom and cinnamon are the spices that lend themselves to the aromatic and flavors of this cup of tea. I like touse this tea which I pick up from the Indian store or can be bought here. You can also use 3 bags of good Assam tea for 2 cups of chai. A good cup of chai takes 10 minutes to make but I promise you it will be well worth the time.
The Feel Good Masala Chai
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup milk see notes
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar or sweetner of choice
Spices
- 1 2" ginger piece sliced
- 3 cloves
- 4 black peppercorn whole
- 1 1/2" stick of cinnamon
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 4 tsp loose tea leaves or 3 tea bags
Instructions
- Crush all the spices and ginger together in a mortar and pestle
- Add the crushed spices to the water and bring to a boil. Now lower the flame to medium add simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the sugar, stir and simmer for another 2 minutes.
- Add the tea leaves, bring to a boil and lower the flame to simmer for 2 minutes.
- Now add the milk, bring to a boil on medium high and turn off the heat. Let it stand for 3 minutes before straining. Serve hot.
Notes
- If using a non dairy substitute for milk follow all the steps except adding the milk and turning off the heat immediately- oat milk and soy milk work really well.
- Good tea leaves will really add flavor to the cup and my personal favorite is linked here
Pair it with the recipes below and enjoy the hot cup of Feel Good Masala Chai:)
Toppings & Toast
Baked Gujiya
Garam Masala Cheese Scones
Lentil Crepes
The link to my favorite tea is here.
Enjoy and as always would love to hear from you so leave a comment and a shout out to @beyond.curry