Masala Chai

Masala Chai

Description

I used to have a bad habit of calling this chai tea (which would be the equivalent of me saying tea-tea). In any case, masala chai is pretty stellar if you make it on your own. General recipes only call for ginger, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon, while others also use pepper, mint, etc.

Consider masala chai a house specialty. You will have versions that you like and others that you don’t. The beauty is that adding or removing spices, water, steeping the tea for longer — literally any change you make will turn this into your version of masala chai. So don’t feel pressured to procure spices you would not normally own. Know that I am inviting you to my version below. So let’s get to business. ☕

Yield: 800–900ml, about 4–6 cups

Vegetarian Dairy

Ingredients

Item	Amount	Notes
ginger, finely sliced	12g (1-inch piece)
cardamom pods	x6
cloves	x6
fennel seeds	pinch
cinnamon sticks	x1–2	⅔-inch pieces
peppercorns	x6
allspice berries	x6
nutmeg	pinch, grated
water	600g (2½ cups)
loose black tea	9g
milk	300g (1¼ cups)
sugar	40g (3 tbsp)	to taste

Tools

Items
scale or measuring spoons
pot (a 2qt All-Clad for a 4–6 cup batch)
cutting board
knife
mortar and pestle (or some way to crush spices)
wooden or silicone spoon
French press (optional — my personal preference)
strainer (especially if saving tea for the next day or so)
stovetop

Recipe

1. Prep the spices: Chop or grate the ginger. Crush some of the cinnamon with the side of a knife — just damage it safely. In a mortar and pestle, press half of the cardamom, half of the peppercorns, and half of the allspice. Don’t turn this into a powder, just give it a good few little grinds.

2. Boil the spices: To a pot, add the 600g of water, all of the ginger, cardamom, cloves, fennel, cinnamon, peppercorns, and allspice, and grate a pinch of nutmeg over the water. Bring to a boil before moving on.

3. Add the tea: As the water starts to boil, add the 9g of tea.

4. Add the milk: After 1 minute, add the 300g of milk.

5. Taste: Let it sit for a few minutes and taste for spice. If all checks out, add sugar conservatively, to taste.

6. Strain or press: Either strain into a container or transfer to a French press (my preferred method). If using a French press, transfer all of the liquid but avoid transferring too many of the tea leaves — they’ll change the taste if left in too long (and they won’t fit in the press anyway).

Tip

The 800–900ml yield has a wide margin because it depends on whether you strain out all the bits or keep some of them in a large container.

Note

Further reading: For more background and other takes on the spice mix, see Masala chai on Wikipedia, Tea for Turmeric’s masala chai, and Minimalist Baker’s easy masala chai.

Nutrition Facts 5 servings · ~170ml each

Calories 70

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 2g 3%

Saturated Fat 1.1g 6%

Cholesterol 6mg 2%

Sodium 26mg 1%

Total Carbohydrate 11g 4%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

Total Sugars 11g

Includes 8g Added Sugars 16%

Protein 2g

Vitamin D 0.7mcg 3% Calcium 68mg 5% Potassium 97mg 2%

* % Daily Value based on a 2,000 calorie diet · Estimated values

Note

Estimated nutrition: Calculated from the ingredients using USDA FoodData Central values, assuming whole milk and all 40g of sugar, split across 5 cups. The spices and tea leaves are strained out and add almost nothing. Using less sugar or a lower-fat milk brings the numbers down.