Chai is an Indian beverage, a heated combination of water, milk, tea leaves, sweetener and warming “Indian” spices - mainly cardamom and ginger. It’s great for digestion and overall health, and very open to personal interpretation.
So, I am a big believer in drinking chai every morning. It usually starts my day. But, not the pre-mixed chai you get at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts - too much sweetener in both those "chai" recipes. Good chai, made with love, fresh spices and quality tea, can't be beat.
Here's my recipe, adapted from Georgiann's recipe - and from my own research and experimentation. Enjoy!
Chai
-To two cups of almost boiling water, add 1/4+ teaspoon (two pinches) of cardamom seeds (I prefer the smaller loose seeds to the whole seed pods). Add, if available, a couple of “coins” of fresh peeled ginger (nice but not necessary). Bring to a boil then simmer gently for about 1 minute.
- Add one big heaping TBS loose tea or two Red Rose tea bags. Also add at least a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of ground chai spice mix (see below) - more spice, more “kick!”. Simmer for 2 minutes.
-To this, add one cup of milk, more or less - it should be rich looking, caramel-colored.
-Next, add a sweetener to taste (see below) I usually do a little less than a tablespoon of sweetener for these proportions.
-Simmer it for about one minute or longer, depending on how strong you like your tea and if you like the milk to get frothy. Stir it gently a few times, then take it off the heat.
-Let it rest for a smidge, (add honey here if using that as a sweetener) then stir, strain into a container and serve. A french press works great, too.
This recipe is good for two servings of chai. You can easily double this and put some in the fridge for later on.
Tea Base: I suggest Irish Breakfast, Ceylon, or Assam. Decaf Irish is great if you are cutting down on caffeine. Loose tea is the best, but I find that Red Rose bags make the best “bag” tea version. (Lipton and Twinings aren’t strong enough.)
Sweetener: Turbinado sugar, cane sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, rice, palm or coconut sugar. I prefer turbinado and maple syrup. Note: Honey is great, but should not be “cooked” - it is bad for digestion when cooked, so add it after the tea cooled slightly.
Milk - 1/3 to 1/2 of final tea should be milk - whole, 2%, almond, coconut or soy milk. I prefer whole cows milk.
Spice mix - I prefer my chai with a little kick, which it gets from ginger and pepper. Experiment with spices that you enjoy. You can get spices anywhere they sell bulk spices. The main part should be ground Cardamom and a little less ground ginger. (about 2 to 1) Open the jars and see what smells great to you! Besides the cardamom and ginger, my spice mix contains: Ground Cinnamon (go for the Ceylon - well worth the price), Ground Cloves, Ground Nutmeg, Dried Ground Orange Peel, ground Black and/or White Pepper (less is more here! Don’t overdo the pepper!) I buy bulk and mix up a big batch of this, and I vary it according to season (ie. in winter, more pepper!) I add whole cinnamon sticks and whole star anise to just hang out in the jar with everything. It lasts a long time. Fennel is a nice addition, too if you like that licorice taste. (You can also add vanilla to your drink, along with the sweetener.)
Drink your chai with enjoyment and love!
So, I am a big believer in drinking chai every morning. It usually starts my day. But, not the pre-mixed chai you get at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts - too much sweetener in both those "chai" recipes. Good chai, made with love, fresh spices and quality tea, can't be beat.
Here's my recipe, adapted from Georgiann's recipe - and from my own research and experimentation. Enjoy!
Chai
-To two cups of almost boiling water, add 1/4+ teaspoon (two pinches) of cardamom seeds (I prefer the smaller loose seeds to the whole seed pods). Add, if available, a couple of “coins” of fresh peeled ginger (nice but not necessary). Bring to a boil then simmer gently for about 1 minute.
- Add one big heaping TBS loose tea or two Red Rose tea bags. Also add at least a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of ground chai spice mix (see below) - more spice, more “kick!”. Simmer for 2 minutes.
-To this, add one cup of milk, more or less - it should be rich looking, caramel-colored.
-Next, add a sweetener to taste (see below) I usually do a little less than a tablespoon of sweetener for these proportions.
-Simmer it for about one minute or longer, depending on how strong you like your tea and if you like the milk to get frothy. Stir it gently a few times, then take it off the heat.
-Let it rest for a smidge, (add honey here if using that as a sweetener) then stir, strain into a container and serve. A french press works great, too.
This recipe is good for two servings of chai. You can easily double this and put some in the fridge for later on.
Tea Base: I suggest Irish Breakfast, Ceylon, or Assam. Decaf Irish is great if you are cutting down on caffeine. Loose tea is the best, but I find that Red Rose bags make the best “bag” tea version. (Lipton and Twinings aren’t strong enough.)
Sweetener: Turbinado sugar, cane sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, rice, palm or coconut sugar. I prefer turbinado and maple syrup. Note: Honey is great, but should not be “cooked” - it is bad for digestion when cooked, so add it after the tea cooled slightly.
Milk - 1/3 to 1/2 of final tea should be milk - whole, 2%, almond, coconut or soy milk. I prefer whole cows milk.
Spice mix - I prefer my chai with a little kick, which it gets from ginger and pepper. Experiment with spices that you enjoy. You can get spices anywhere they sell bulk spices. The main part should be ground Cardamom and a little less ground ginger. (about 2 to 1) Open the jars and see what smells great to you! Besides the cardamom and ginger, my spice mix contains: Ground Cinnamon (go for the Ceylon - well worth the price), Ground Cloves, Ground Nutmeg, Dried Ground Orange Peel, ground Black and/or White Pepper (less is more here! Don’t overdo the pepper!) I buy bulk and mix up a big batch of this, and I vary it according to season (ie. in winter, more pepper!) I add whole cinnamon sticks and whole star anise to just hang out in the jar with everything. It lasts a long time. Fennel is a nice addition, too if you like that licorice taste. (You can also add vanilla to your drink, along with the sweetener.)
Drink your chai with enjoyment and love!
RSS Feed