Tag: tea

My brother makes a spiced tea (“masala chai” is the Indian term for “spiced tea”) that is unrivaled anywhere around here, in spite of the fact that there’s a substantial Indian population in the neighborhood. It’s not only delicious but also has an energy kick that belies the fact that it’s just tea. I suspect that there must be some extra caffeine hiding out in one of the spices he grinds fresh for this drink.

I watched Daniel making chai this weekend so I could get his recipe. Note that these ingredients are all whole spices when he makes the chai and grinding them fresh is probably half the secret to what makes it so delicious. So get your mortar and pestle out if you want it to be the best it can be and let’s make some chai.

Ingredients (per cup):

• 5 allspice corns
• 6 cardomom seed pods
• 1 clove
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon stick
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg seed
• 1 grind black pepper corn
• 1 tablespoon orange pekoe Indian tea
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
• 10 ounces 2%-fat milk

Pour the milk into a sauce pan. Pull the seeds out of the cardomom pods and put them into the mortar with the other spices, including just one grind from the pepper grinder. Grind the spices course with the pestle then add the tea and grind it fine. Add the contents of the mortar to the milk then put the sugar into the mortar. Grind the sugar with the pestle enough to pull the spices’ oils off of it and the wall of the mortar and incorporate the oils into the sugar. Then add the sugar to the milk and turn it on medium heat. Stir constantly to prevent the milk from scorching on the pan. As soon as it comes to a boil, remove the pan from the heat and strain the drink into a cup.