For this cultural post, I made famous Indian Chai Masala! Although many Americans think that Chai refers to the tasty spices used (as evidence by American products as "chai spiced cider",) it literally means "tea" with the "masala" meaning spiced. In fact, "masala" can be used for other dishes as well to mean spiced - take for example, Chana Masala, or "spiced chickpeas."
I decided to make chai the traditional way as I learned in India. First you must choose the spices you want. Everyone makes it slightly differently, but I choose to use ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg. Some people make it "spicier" with more ginger and some people make it "sweeter" with more cozy spices like cinnamon.
Next I ground up all the spices with a wooden pestle and added two plain black tea (chai!) bags.
Next I added sugar, water, and milk. The proportions of the two liquids are to taste. Some people like almost all water with just a splash of milk, and some people like to use all whole milk and no water! I best enjoy the results when I use a 1:1 proportion of whole milk and water. the next step is to heat the concoction until it just starts to boil, and then turn the heat off. I like to let it steep a little longer to get more flavor, and then I skim off the milk-top layer and pour it through a strainer into a mug.
I poured mine into this handmade mug I got as a gift from an Indian friend.
Enjoy!!
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