Masala Chai also known as Masala Tea is India’s most popular drink and is loved by everyone. Imagine the flavors of brewing – sweet, spicy, hot, and aromatic spices with sugar, milk, and tea… Amazing Right? This Indian Masala Chai is just that – amazingly flavorsome, delicious, and relaxing.
Masala Chai is an Indian beverage made by brewing black tea with fragrant spices, sugar, and milk. In Hindi the word “Masala” means “spices” and “Chai” means “Tea”.
How to Choose Your Black Tea
Traditionally masala chai is made with loose tea leaves but now most people use processed black tea which is in granular or powder form.
Spices – The basic and most common spices used in masala tea are green cardamoms, cloves, and cinnamon. The other optional spices are black pepper, ginger, fennel seeds, nutmeg, and star anise. Each spice has its health benefits.
Milk – The quantity of milk to add depends on your taste and the kind of milk used. Too much milk in your tea can completely alter the taste of your tea and can cause acidity. Masala chai with too little milk will also not taste good and will be watery. An ideal ratio of water to milk can range from 1:1 to 3:1 depending on the kind of milk – homogenized, non-homogenized, toned, and raw milk.
Sweetener – Traditionally unrefined sweetener known as jaggery is used. It is a personal choice and we love ours with cane sugar. You can also have it with any other sweetener of your choice. If using jaggery, coconut sugar or palm jaggery add them once you turn off the heat.
How to Make Masala Chai
Crush the Spices
To make instant masala chai, add the following whole spices (masala) to a small mortar pestle or spice grinder.
2 to 3 cloves (2 for milder flavor)
½ to ¾ cinnamon (Cassia or Ceylon)
4 green cardamoms
2 peppercorns (optional, or a pinch of ground pepper)
Crush them fine (or slightly coarse is okay) to bring out the flavors.
Make Masala Tea
Heat 1½ cups water in a sauce pot.
Add crushed spices powder we just made.
½ teaspoon ginger (optional, ½ inch peeled & chopped or grated)
2½ to 3 teaspoons loose-leaf black Tea or 1¼ to 1½ teaspoon powder (dust), depending on the brand.
Bring this to a rolling boil on a medium-high flame & turn it down to medium or low. Let the decoction boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add sugar at this stage. I use 3 to 4 teaspoons. You can use as little or as much as you prefer.
Pour 1 cup of full-fat milk into the simmering black tea. Adjust the quantity of milk as needed. Adding milk before boiling the ginger well will more likely curdle the milk. So ensure you add the milk only after boiling the ginger well with black tea.
Bring the tea to a rolling boil and simmer on medium heat until the tea turns dark, for 2 mins. Simmering helps the tea to thicken. I usually simmer until it reduces to 1¾ cups. Fresh holy basil (tulsi) or mint leaves can also be used for variations. You can taste and add more milk if you prefer. But simmer again for a little longer so the tea doesn’t have the milky flavor.
Aerate Masala Chai (optional)
As the chai boils, you will see a layer of cream on top. Turn off the heat. Pulled masala chai tastes best as the milk fats are dispersed during the process & you get the same taste as from a chaiwallah. Using a soup ladle pull or aerate the tea a few times.
If you do not have a soup ladle, simply pour some of the hot tea into a measuring cup (that has a handle) and pour that back into the chai pot in a slow stream, from a height of about 1 to 1½ feet. This should break down the layer of milk cream and create some froth. Repeat this step of pulling tea from the pot to the measuring cup a few times (4 to 5 times) until all of the cream is broken down and incorporated back into the masala chai.
Lastly Strain/ filter masala chai tea into serving cups.
Serve Masala Chai hot or warm with biscuits.