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| A fine cup of chai! |
Now lets just be clear from the getgo. I mean real, homemade, Indian spices chai. This chai is the chai that took me by surprise and now tends to dominate my life. There are other "chai's" out there, such as the ones you get at coffee shops and they most defiantly have their place. May I just say blending a cup of Big Train chai with some peanut butter is one of the most wonderful tasty drinks I experienced in college. But that is not what this post is about. So moving on...
As cheese toast is so meaning full and special to Sara because of Flash, so chai is to me because of the friends I have enjoyed it with. One of my roomates made it in her hot water pot... she was dedicated. To be honest I didn't get it at first. What was so special about this tea... :/ eek now to me it is so much more then tea! But I didn't know. You may be asking the same question. "Why in the world is this girl going on about a drink?" Well READ ON!
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| This chai I made and enjoyed with an egg on toast! |
Well I will give you a recipe but you MUST NOT OBEY IT! By that I mean if you don't like an ingredient, or you really LOVE one and want that flavor more YOU MUST! Use more!
Homemade Chai tea (a ruff draft)
The MUSTS!
Ginger root (fresh)-a thumb size bit
Cardamom-10 to 15 pods ground in a moter or cracked open with your teeth. :D
Water- 2-3 cups... maybe
Black Tea (I highly recommend, PG Tips or Twinnings the purple box)- 6 to 8 tea bags
Milk- 3-4 cups, Whole milk is the best!
If you don't have you will live...
Cinnamon- almost one whole small stick
Clove-3 or 4 cloves crushed
Coriander (sometimes)- ummm your one your own... I don't really use it. Maybe a teaspoon?
Honey (I prefer honey to sugar because it changes the taste a bit, and I just like it)- to taste
A sauce pan that is about 6 inches deep, fill it with water less then half way. Turn on the burner to med-high. Add your spices and ginger root. Let the spices have time... the more time the more flavor.
After the spices have enjoyed the time in the water alone add the black tea. The tea needs to be made as any tea lover would make a cup of black tea, it has to steep. So allow it to have the proper time. Around 3-5 minutes. If your not sure look at the water is it dark dark brown... that's good. Are you smelling it yet? This may take some practice... at least for me it took some getting use to. You have to get use to the size of the pan and amount of spices you use and amount of TEA. Now your ALMOST there but this is, in my opinion the most important. The milk! Don't be afraid. Pour and then pour more. That's what I have to tell myself or I will have a watery chai. eww. There is probably about an equal amount if not a bit more milk in the chai as the water. Once added let it cook. Depending on how you feel you can just let it be alone on the stove with out string knowing there will be some scolded milk at the bottom of the pot, or you can supervise it and stir it. A milk skin will form. The milk fats will have caramelized and added a natural sweetener. You will now need your favorite mug! Lets be serious. I can not drink this in any mug but my favorite. I hope you enjoy!
When I drink chai it makes me think of the song "It Feels Like Home to Me" by Edwina Hayes. Yep :) Sara... I just had to have chai as my first post. She hears about it just about every time I make it. lol
Which reminds me... I just enjoyed a cup at my favorite Indian restaurant here! Then I came home and made a pot for myself. :) Yep. All good. :)
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