Chai… Indian Spiced Tea

Ever since I can remember the only “tea” that I had at home is Chai. Chai was definitely something we did as a family, rarely did you just make yourself a cuppa. Chai takes on as many personas as there are variations of spices you can add and the quantities… it’s very much a personal thang!

What you need…
This recipe is to make about four cups/mugs of Chai!
Use the mug/cup that you will drink from to measure the liquids.

A saucepan that will hold at least 8 mugs of water.
Two tea bags or two teaspoons of loose tea.
Milk
Water
Tea strainer

Selection of spices you can choose from..
Green and black cardamom, whole cloves, fennel seeds, cinnamon, fresh ginger.

Add 3 mugs of water to the pan and place on a high heat.
Now add your spices etc. Below are some combinations that I grew up with…
Three healthy slices of fresh ginger or
Two teaspoons of fennel seeds or
Four whole cloves, stick of cinnamon
Teaspoon of fennel, four crushed green cardamoms, one crushed black cardamom
The everything in mix… Similar quantities to above but all of it!

Now that you sort of know the quantities, you can try your own combinations.

Once your combo of spices has been chosen, add this with the tea bags to the water and bring to the boil.
Turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes until you smell the strong aroma of the spices.
At this point pour in about two full mugs of milk or more..the colour needs to be lighter than you would want it as the final product.
Turn the heat up to a medium one and slowly bring to the boil… be careful at this point that it doesn’t boil over! The latent heat will mean it will continue to boil up after you have turned off the heat. This was always my failing as a child as my last job would always be to clean the hob through a lack of focus!

Now clean the hob!!

What to do next…
The Chai now needs to be strained, do this for each cup or into a pot!
Add sugar as required.
Drink and share!

Enjoy!