"Indian Tea Party", is our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are cooking from Madhur Jaffrey's recipes. I immediately thought of Chai Tea, which I have always wanted to try. And what better time than to serve this for our tea party at IHCC, virtually!
The spices for the Masala Chai Tea, cardamom pods, whole cloves, cinnamon stick and black tea. Of course some milk and sugar. The spices are boiled and left to simmer for 10 minutes to infuse their flavours, the the milk and sugar are added in and bring to boil once again. Lastly stir in the black tea leaves, turn off the heat and leave to infuse for a couple of minutes. Strain into warm cups and enjoy.
Very nice! So fragrant and wonderfully spiced with just the right amount of spices! I can smell the wonderful fragrance of the cardamom first, then the cinnamon and the cloves. The black tea leaves are one of my favourites, a gift from my neighbour during one of their holiday tours to Turkey. Love it, I have been enjoying it alone for my afternoons and now there's not much left! The black tea is a little mild, so I added in another 1 teaspoon, as I love a stronger tea, adjust to your liking.
I will definitely make this again and again to enjoy for my afternoon tea. A cup of this warm spiced tea would be perfect when I'm browsing thru my cookbooks, relax and enjoy both the tea and the book!
To see my friends at IHCC tea-time party dish, you may visit them here. If you would like to join us in our cooking journey with Madhur Jaffrey, you may get the full details at IHCC's Welcome! page.
Masala Chai
(adapted from : Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, source from New Chai Ideas)
1-1/2 cups water
1 inch stick of cinnamon
8 cardamom pods
8 whole cloves
2/3 cup milk
6 tsp sugar (or to taste)
3 teaspoons any unperfumed loose black tea
Put water in saucepan. Add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the milk and sugar and bring to a simmer again. Throw in the tea leaves, cover, and turn off the heat. After 2 minutes, strain the tea into two cups and serve immediately.
Joyce, these are very interesting flavors. I have heard of this masala chai before but haven't tried it. I wonder would it work without milk because I am lactose intolerant :)
ReplyDeleteIf I may, I would recommend you look at making this with either coconut milk (low fat) or soy milk. The soy milk does have a slight aftertaste to it, so I usually use coconut milk when I make Masala Chai for my vegan friends. The coconut milk adds a wonderful depth to the tea.
DeleteJoyce, I wish I could have a cup of your Chai tea. I can almost smell the fragrance from across the screen...
ReplyDeleteJoyce, i once hv a taste of Chai tea, indeed lovely.
ReplyDeleteI love having masala chai after an Indian meal too. Looks very simple, will give it a go!
ReplyDeleteI love Chai tea, and wish I had a cup of it now on this rainy morning. No school today so I think I'll go make some! :)
ReplyDeleteJoyce,
ReplyDeletei know all the spices you mention but never try this Masala Chai tea before.
I can imagine the flavour and aroma of the Masala Chai tea must be really interesting.
Thanks for sharing.
mui..^^
Joyce , me want to grab that chai right now ! lol Actually , I've been telling myself to buy some chai tea , but as always , never get around to it ! I think all supermarket near our area doesn't carry that kind of tea ! tsk tsk
ReplyDeleteawesome chai....
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This looks absolutely perfect on this cold day!
ReplyDeleteChai spiced tea is one of my favorites to drink during the colder months! What a lovely recipe that I'd love to try making myself.
ReplyDeleteno, i hv not tasted anything 'chai'..if you really want the black tea again, very simple..go to your favourite website 'amazon' and click 'buy'! LOL!
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be very interesting to see how the different black teas manifest through these recipes! We used the same recipe, but we used different black teas...you got a much darker tea than we did! Love this!
ReplyDeleteI'm clinking my mug with your mug, Joyce...I could go for another one right now. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the pictures with all the spices. I bet this is wonderfully fragrant and aromatic. Definitely going to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteI loved it too. Yours looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteMasala Chai is my all time favorite tea. Love it with tons of milk and sugar. Thanks for this recipe. Looks better than one I am using. Love the spice pic.
ReplyDelete