MASALA TEA
A fragrantly spiced Masala chai that is perfect for breakfast or your evening tea. Masala Chai also known as Masala Tea is a hot beverage made with water, whole spices, black tea powder, sugar and milk.
Masala tea is made by brewing tea in water together with the spices, sugar and a touch of milk added later.
- Ingredients You Need
Masala chai is made with a mix of staple ingredients that every Indian kitchen has.
- Black tea powder
- Water
- Milk
- Sugar
- Spices and herbs
Depending on your taste preferences and health constitution, the quantity of spices can vary or you can omit adding some of them.
- Spices and Herbs TO BE ADDED
- Cinnamon – A spice known for its fragrant, warm, woody aroma; cinnamon is also antibacterial, antifungal and has antioxidant properties.
- Cloves – Imparts a nice mild sweet pungent taste to the tea. Cloves also have antioxidant properties and are antimicrobial.
- Green Cardamom – Infuses a lovely sweet fragrance. You can choose to either crush the whole green pods or add ground cardamom powder. Cardamom is good for digestion and a good mouth and breath freshener as well.
- Ginger – It is a warming pungent herb and can be added either crushed or grated. Ginger is very good to deal with morning sickness and nausea. It is also antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and good for digestion.
- More Herbs – Additionally, you can also include herbs like mint leaves, lemongrass and spices like nutmeg, fennel seeds, black pepper and long pepper in your chai recipe. Ayurvedic herbs like Ashwagandha and Mulethi (licorice root) are also a few options.
Which Tea To Use
In Indian homes, the type of tea that is used to make our everyday chai is black tea that comes in granular form. There are two kinds that are used – Tea Dust and CTC. Both are referred to as tea powder here.
CTR refers to Crush, Tear and Curl. The tea leaves are crushed, torn and curled using cylindrical rollers at various stages. This processed tea has a granular texture or can be in the form of pellets and is called CTC or Mamri tea.
A stronger tea variety like Assam tea is the most preferred CTC tea to make this drink. But some folks also prefer a lighter and milder tea like the Darjeeling tea. There are premade mixes of both Assam and Darjeeling tea or Assam and Nilgiri available that can be used.