Chai (from scratch)
Chai is one of my favorite drinks in the fall and winter months. It’s warm, comforting, and perfectly spiced. I’ve tried a lot of premixed chai you can get from the store but nothing ever compared to the chai I would have when I would visit my Pakistani friend in my college days. Something about it was just better, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but now I can understand that using fresh spices really makes a huge difference.
So after years of making chai for myself, I found this to be the recipe I enjoy most.
Serves: 4
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
2 Cups Whole Milk
2 Cups Water
6 Cloves
6 Cardamom Pods
Cinnamon Stick
1 tbsp Fresh Ginger
0.5 cup Loose Black Tea
Granulated Sugar (to taste)
Instructions
Start by getting a small pot, fill with the water and bring to a boil.
While waiting for the water to boil, place the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, in a mortar & pestle and grind until coarse.
Use a spoon to scrape the skin off of the ginger, mince, and add to the mortar & pestle. Pound until the ginger has flattened and released its oils.
Add everything in the mortar into the boiling water and let it ride for a few minutes.
Add the black tea to the water and continue boiling for 2 minutes then pour in the whole milk and stir well.
Drop to a simmer and let it ride until the tea starts to rise and boil over. When this happens, remove from the heat and stir.
Add as much sugar as you like and stir until it is all dissolved into the tea.
Pour the tea through a fine mesh strainer to separate the tea from the spices and tea leaves.
Finally, aerate the tea by pouring it back and forth between two cups a few times and serve.