How To Make Indian Chai Tea
You're here because you want a raw, slightly bitter textured taste of earth mixed with gingery-sweet milk tea - you're after the taste of authentic Indian Chai Tea, the taste of India! You are here for one thing, you want to learn how to make authentic Indian chai tea, and I won't disappoint you!
This method is authentic (i overuse this word for a reason!), so authentic I asked my friend Vijay (or as I like to call him, vajayjay) to take a photo showing his approval of this all Indian Chai Tea Recipe! Seriously, this is the most authentic How to make Indian Chai tea recipe thing you will ever come across, brace yourselves, for your taste buds are about to be officially curryfied..umm, right.
On my trip to India last year, I spent my days taking public transportation to get around, and almost everywhere I went, I found open-air chai stalls, where chai was served in clay cups that were later traditionally smashed in the ground.
Now it's important to note that an important factor of authentic Indian chai comes from using these clay cups, that are hand spun out of river clay, where chai wallahs customarily tap the unglazed cup to dislodge any loose dirt particles before serving you the chai, and you inevitably digest a tiny amount of melted clay/dirt, it's not unhealthy, in fact the gritty taste enhances the character of the chai. So if you don't have the dirty clay cups handy, you'll have to settle for the next best most authentic taste!
Here is the quick, simple, light yet spicy super yummy Chai recipe for you!
The Ingredients (to make about 4 cups of chai):
1/4 cup of grated fresh Ginger (loosely packed) - best if fresh but, not imperative.
1 cup of milk (full for best flavor, but go at it with skimmed or semi etc, your call)
3 Tbl spoons Sucanat. It's an evaporated cane juice (otherwise 3 tbl spoons of sugar will do)
5 tsp. of Darjeeling black tea (Sikkim Black Tea (Temi Estate) also harmonizes well with the flavor of ginger if you like. Going with regular tea bags, lipton or earl gray etc will work but you won't get the same wonderful taste.) Now, you can find Darjeeling black tea at your larger than average local supermarket, but you can also order it online from dozens of sites, including amazon (check seller rating before ordering)
Simmer the 1/4 cup of ginger in water for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the milk and Sucanat (or sugar) and bring back to simmer.
Add the tea then cover the pot/kettle and let it steep for about 3-4 minutes.
That's it ladies and fellas, that is the most authentic Indian gingery Chai Tea you will ever have the pleasure of tasting. Now, I owe it to you here to let you know that around India, there are other recipes for Chai tea, this is one of the more widely used recipe and most prominently in Darjeeling. On my next trip I will be sure to share other variations and recipes from India, but until then, ENJOY!
(big thanks to my friend the tea connoisseur for his assistance in perfecting this article.)
NOTE: Future how to make tea videos will be shot and shared for past and future articles, just need to get everything setup for that. Also, if you have any Tea recipe requests, just ask! :)