What Is In Chai Tea?

Have you ever tasted or heard of Chai Tea, the typically Indian spiced tea? You have probably already had tea with added spices in your home. It is a classic of the winter season and especially of the Christmas holidays. The scents, in fact, are the same and the spices convey so much enveloping warmth.
Traditionally, Chai, besides containing spicy notes, is a very sweet tea, enriched with milk. In India it goes by the name Masala Chai (literally spiced tea) and is often sold curbside as street food by street vendors called Chai Wallahs. Initially, the recipe called for only spices following the principles of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian medicine. In the late 1800s, with the beginning of tea cultivation in India thanks to British rule, black tea was added to the preparation.
If you do not have a chance to taste this sweet drink in India, you can try making it at home and warm yourself on a cold winter afternoon. I followed the directions in Linda Gaylard’s book The Tea Book and, as usual I made a few modifications according to my taste.

Here, then, is my recipe for Chai Tea:

Chai Recipe

This is my recipe for Chai Tea, the Indian spiced tea. The ingredients are calculated to make two cups of tea.

• 10 cloves
• a cinnamon stick about 2 to 3 inches long or 2 tablespoons of cinnamon powder
• 8 cardamom seeds
• 2 to 3 cm (about 5 g) of fresh ginger root
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of Indian black tea (about 4 g) of the Assam type
• Just under two cups of tea (about 400 ml) of natural mineral water
• 80 ml of whole milk
• 2 – 3 teaspoons of acacia honey or brown sugar (according to personal taste, may be increased)

To prepare Chai tea, first you need to pound the spices (except ginger) with a mortar. If you do not have it, you may use a meat tenderizer.
Then place them in a pan or saucepan, preferably with a spout to make it easier to pour the tea into cups later. Add the tea leaves and thinly sliced ginger to the spices and turn on the stove. Stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent burning, heat for 5 minutes. This encourages the aroma of the spices to diffuse…bring your nose closer and you’ll smell how good it smells! It reminded me so much of mulled wine, which, after all, is spiced wine.

If you close your eyes, a Christmas market will appear in front of you.

At this point add room temperature water and bring to a boil. After two minutes of simmering, add the milk and honey. Allow it to steep for an additional five minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon every so often. Strain, pour into cups and serve piping hot.
You can add more honey or sugar to the beverage if you prefer sweet beverages. In India, masala chai is indeed very sweet.
As with any traditional specialty, each family has its own recipe often handed down from generation to generation. It may therefore be that different spices are used than the ones I have recommended. Linda, in her book, for example, does not include pepper but star anise.
Try this tea in your kitchen by adding it to your shortbread recipe to make excellent Chai Tea cookies.