How to make the perfect Masala Chai tea....

With those long, cold winter nights drawing ever closer in you may find yourself looking for ways to warm up and feel that little bit brighter about the grey clouds outside.

One thing that many people turn to during the bleak winter evenings is a nice warming cup of tea; and here at Spice Kitchen we have to say that we are fans of a big mug of masala tea to enjoy during the evening.

But masala tea it seems is not something that instantly comes to people’s minds, perhaps this is because it isn’t as easy to grab as a “normal” cuppa. But the truth is that masala tea is not that difficult to perfect, even if you want to make the powder yourself.

So with this in mind we have put together the recipe to create the most delicious, aromatic mug of steaming masala tea that you have ever had the fortune to drink and one of the best bits is that it isn’t that difficult to do.

The basics

The fundamental basics of the masala tea are the spices that you put in the base powder and there are some variations on opinion of ones that are to be included. Within this blog post we are going to use cardamom, cinnamon, peppercorns, fennel and ginger however if you have a favourite spice that you like to add then of course feel free to experiment.

The recipe

So now you know what you need to add you might like to know how much you need.

The recipe that we like to use is:

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 peppercorns
• ½ teaspoon of cardamom seeds of ground cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon of fennel seeds
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups of whole milk
• 3 and ½ tablespoons or light brown sugar (or of course added to your own taste)
• 5 teaspoons of loose black tea

It will be handy to also have a pestle and mortar or even an electronic grinder to grind together the spices to make the powder.

Making it

Making the Masala powder for your tea is simply a case of grinding together those of the ingredients that are not already in a powder form (fennel seeds, cardamom seeds, peppercorns and the cinnamon stick).

Once they are ground up into a powder you will need to bring the milk to a simmer in a heavy based saucepan. On simmering it is time to add the other ingredients; brown sugar (to taste), ginger and of course the ground spices before reducing the heat to low and leaving to simmer with occasional stirring for 3 minutes.

Whilst the pan is gently bubbling you should boil the water in a separate pan before adding the tea and boiling for a further 1 minute.

Once the tea has boiled you will need to pour it through a sieve into the hot milk (don’t forget to recycle, compost or of course throw away the leaves) before giving the mixture a final heat through for 1 minute.

So there you have it, the simple steps to follow to have yourself a rather delicious and warming cup of masala tea. We hope  you enjoy it just as much as we do!