Masala Chai

Time for my monthly blog post it seems, haha.

I’ve been a bit busy rebuilding my proper portfolio website. Hooray for databases and never having to code again!!

It’s getting so much colder now! Can you feel it? Part of me is deeply distressed at the fact that I wont see sunlight after work for another 2 seasons, but another part of me is looking forward to scarves, nice coats and hotpot parties. Anyway, the following recipe is another great thing to look forward to during the long wintery days.

In February, I was lucky enough to take a trip to India for a good friend’s wedding! (which I promise will be blogged about some time…………..) And amongst all the awesome stuff we ate and drank there (PANEER TANDOORI!) – I completely fell in love with Masala Chai!

I’d never been a big fan of chai while I was in Sydney. This is possibly a result of my stint at a certain popular drink chain during my uni days (it was a great experience, but the smell of that premixed chai syrup at 6am in the morning haunts me). Maybe I’m not going to the right places, but I always found the usual concoctions to be so sickly sweet and reeking of vanilla essence.

That is, until I tasted this masala chai at a tea bar in the middle of Oxford Book store, Connaught Place, New Delhi.

First of all… it’s served in a monkey glass. Immediately that’s awesome. The drink was so strongly spiced and rich, I almost couldn’t finish this tiny glass. Intense and delicious. This is no chai latte bastardisation.

And that’s all I drank for the rest of the trip.

‘Masala’ refers to a mixture of spices. There’s no set recipe for chai, and no set method as far as I’m aware. This is not at all a definitive way of making it, and if you know a better way – please let me know your thoughts! In coming up with this method, I consulted a few websites including SBS Food and Chai Tea.org – and adjusted the quantities to taste – and of course you’re welcome to do the same. I got all the spices at the local deli, and it was quite cheap!

Anyway, it’s super simple – even a kitchen newb like me could do it 🙂

Masala Chai Mix
The amount here makes a decent quantity that I’ve been keeping in an airtight jar.

Ingredients:
12 green cardamom pods (try not to skimp on this one. It gives chai its distinctive flavour)
3 sticks of cinnamon, crushed (I really like cinnamon, so I probably add a bit more than is necessary)
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp ginger powder (some recipes I’ve seen call for crushed fresh ginger. Will have to try it)
1/2 tsp cloves (I’m too lazy to count them)
1/4 tsp black peppercorns

(using the awesome teaspoon set I got from Miss Piggy 🙂 )

First we want to dry roast the spices to bring out the flavour. Preheat the oven to around 220˚C. Lay all the spices out on a tray (I’ve used a brownie pan), and roast them for 3-4 mins max. Your kitchen will start to smell wonderful.

mm.. roasting away

Don’t panic if they come out a bit smoky! As long as they’re not burnt, it just adds to the flavour 😉

Next I used one of those kitchen grinder magic bullet things to grind the spice mixture to a fine powder. If you don’t have one, you can use a mortar and pestle (and get some muscles doing it).

before

after!

And that’s it! That’s your Masala spice mix! Keep it in an airtight jar.

To brew your chai tea – use a saucepan to brew a very strong cup of black tea (Assam tea is the best. I used English Breakfast, but Irish Breakfast would be great for that strong flavour.)

Use half milk (full cream milk of course), half water – and continuously stir it to evaporate the water to create a very thick tea. Add lots of sugar (brown sugar or raw sugar preferably) at this point – it brings out the taste of the spices later!

Add 1 teaspoon of the masala chai spice mix per cup of tea and let it brew for a few more minutes, stirring continuously. If you stir it with a whisk, it’ll be nice and frothy!

Serve and enjoy!

I just wanted to show off my penguin mug

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