true chai
Chai is my favorite hot drink. When made right, chai is a deeply flavored, sweet and spicy tea with milk and sugar. This leads me to a dilemma: if coffeeshops can make all kinds of delicious coffee drinks, why can't they make good chai? I've never had a cup of chai at a coffeeshop as good as what I make at home (I just tried chai at my husband's favorite coffeeshop in town and was again let down). It always tastes like it started as a flavor powder that they mixed with warm milk, then topped with steamed milk. It's not really brewed tea, just some powder stirred into milk. Disappointing. I have, however, had some good chai at a few local Indian and Pakistan restaurants. I guess I'll have to settle for getting my chai there or at home.
Here's my recipe for good, full-flavored, real chai (serves 1):
Mix one cup water and one cup milk. Pour into a small saucepan.
Heat the mixture, stirring often, until it gets foamy and little bubbles appear around the edge.
Add 1 Tablespoon Frontier chai black tea (I discovered this at our local organic/natural foods market). Stir for a few minutes over heat, then cover tightly and turn off heat.
Allow tea to steep for 10 minutes or to desired strength (I like it to turn a deep brown color).
Strain chai into a mug. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Add sugar as desired. Enjoy.
posted by rlbuckwalter @ 4:41 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Yeay!! I want to try this!! Kajal's mom made amazing "Indian tea," which was chai...she did it like you do, I think. The chai in India was really good.
Anyway, I wanted to ask -- what should I use to strain the tea into the mug? What do you use?
Thanks!! -Hilarie
I managed to find a little strainer that fits right over the top of a mug. When I didn't have this, I would just not strain it and chew on the tea leaves at the end. :) I think Indian women strain it through an old sari. I heard that once...I'm not sure it's true.
The little strainer is nice and I think it's easily found in cooking stores.
You should ask Kajal's mom for her recipe--probably it's a lot more authentic than mine.
I have the opposite problem... I like the non-authentic coffeeshop tea, and I can't make it at home! After seeing Encina's (from Spain, we met her in Ireland) tea-brewing process involving loose tea leaves, I may have vowed forever to use tea bags. They're a good invention. Eh, I'll try your version sometime.
Hi again! I re-vamped the psuedo-blog that I started 2 years ago. I still feel dumb making a blog about law, because I feel like its boring and depressing and nobody will want to read it. (maybe not even me!) *blushes* *runs away*
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