Since the pandemic struck, it has been my morning routine to brew a pot of masala chai for Surekha and me. The kids partake of this when they are around.
Having played with our magic potion’s recipe, I thought that it was time to share it. All quantities scaled for a medium-sized teapot.
The bill of material:
- 1″ cubic inch of ginger, peeled, washed, and grated
- 0.5 teaspoon of turmeric
- 8 cloves
- 10 black pepper balls/corns
- 3 pods of whole cardamom
- (1 teaspoon of chai powder, if you happen to have it)
- 2 bags of tea
- A spot of milk
The bill of process:
- Boil enough water to fill the teapot
- While the water is boiling (6 minutes at sea level), place the strainer in the teapot, toss in the grated ginger
- Sprinkle the turmeric (and, if you so choose, the chai powder). Using a spoon, work the two into the ginger
- Grind the cloves and pepper balls using a pestle in a mortar
- Sprinkle the ground powder into the ginger.
- Crush the cardamom in the mortar, drop it into the ginger and work it all, once again
- Add two bags of tea to the strainer (I tend to use Tata’s Elaichi tea bought for half the price Walmart is offering it for)
- Pour hot water into the pot thru the strainer. Fill till all of the ginger, spices, and tea bags are soaked and below the water line
- Cover with a tea cosy
- Wait for 3-6 minutes
- Pour into mugs prefilled with a touch of milk (volume of tea is based on your preference).
- Add sugar as permitted by your A1C 😉
- Enjoy!
Since our doctor wants us to drink a ton of water, we cheat. We refill the teapot with hot water throughout the day. So, while we like to believe we are drinking tea, we are in reality (especially as the day progresses) drinking warm, flavored water. Use this trick as you best see fit.
Variants of this recipe can be created by replacing the cloves and cardamom with fennel seeds. I tend not to use cinnamon as it is often too sweet and strong.
Let me know how this works out for you.
