Namaste Dear Readers! I have just returned from India and I feel it may be time to make a cup of homemade Masala Chai. We had a fabulous time in India as you may have been able to tell from my recent stories:
Feeding Delhi – Sikh Temple Kitchen
Whilst in India my priority was to collect delicious recipes to share in my upcoming Indian Cookbook. During our stay I participated in cooking classes and was welcomed into the kitchen of some fabulous restaurants.
One of the highlights for me was learning to make the homely comfort food which is prepared in every Indian home. These dishes may not make their way into my book, so I thought I would share some of them here.
The first such recipe I wanted to share is the masala chai. This was the drink we were served as soon as we entered a home or hotel. In Australia I have always avoided the cafe versions of the tea as I find it overly sweet and heavy with aromatic spices. To my surprise I loved the way Masala Chai is prepared in India.
The tea is deliciously mellow, fragrant and calming. Even my children enjoyed a cup of masala chai occasionally.
The beauty of living in an Indian home, is you can watch over the hosts shoulder, and see how everything is prepared. I was able to collect recipes from our homestay host, cooking schools and restaurants for each dish I wanted to perfect. The first item on my list to master was the masala chai.
In our travels, we found that everyone in India has their own recipe for this tea. The recipe I’ve put together is my favourite version of the drink. Because I love green cardamon I have included it in the masala. During our classes we found cardamon is a commonly used spice, but not everyone includes it in the tea.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 10 gm fresh ginger
- 5 gm cassia bark
- 3 green cardamon pods
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 TBS black tea
- 2 tsp sugar
Instructions
- using a mortar and pestle crush the ginger into a paste.
- Add the water and ginger to a saucepan.
- Add the cardamon and cinnamon to the mortar and pestle and bruise the spices.
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Add the tea when the water boils and reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Allow the tea to simmer for two minutes.
- Add the milk and sugar to the saucepan.
- Bring the tea back to the boil and allow the brew to darken for 2 minutes or until the desired strength is achieved.
- Serve
Nutrition
One of the fabulous cooking experiences we had was at the Jaipur Cooking School. Here the chef showed us his version of chai masala. I’ve included the instructional video below so that you can see how simple the tea is to make.
Whilst this is a very simple recipe my book will be taking the flavours of masala chai and creating a rather decadent dessert. I would love you to try this tea in preparation for the sweet treat that will follow in my book. I promise, if you like white chocolate you will love the dessert!
My Indian Thermomix cookbook was released in November 2016. It consists of 26 authentic Indian recipes. Click the picture below to purchase the book.
Now I have a question for readers, if you were to visit India, what recipe would you like to bring back with you?