Being raised in an Indian family involved numerous cups of tea in a day; and every member of the family wanted their tea to taste a particular way. I grew up watching my grandma make tea approximately 6-10 times a day! Yes, I’m serious. With eight family members living under one roof, who all wanted tea made their way, meant tea was most definitely made eight times a day. The remaining two were for the occasional guests that came over.
As winter approached and the weather got cooler, tea consumption doubled! I was raised by teaholics, if that’s even a thing! Regardless of the amount of tea I witnessed being drunk, day in and day out, I never grew to like it. However, things changed once I got married; my husband occasionally insisted on sharing a cup of Chai and it slowly started to grow on me. As a little Holiday gift, from me to you, I share my very own Chai recipe with you. May this cup of Chai, fill your heart with warmth and joy!
Serves approximately 4 small cups of Chai
Ingredients:
(600 ml) Water
(5) Whole Peppercorns, crushed
(3) Pods of Cardamoms
(3) Cloves
(1) Cube of Organic Ginger, (approx. 1 inch)
(2) Tsp. of Tata Tea Gold, (loose leaf tea)
*Sugar, milk and/or cream to taste*
As Garnish:
(1) Star Anise per cup, (optional)
(1) Cinnamon stick per cup, (optional)
Pour water into a small sized pan, and add peppercorns, cardamoms, cloves and ginger to it. Allow the spices to release their flavours into the water as it heats. Once the water is reaching close to a boil, add tealeaves, turn off the stove and allow the tea to steep for approximately 2-4 minutes, depending on how strong of a flavour you’re looking to achieve. Strain the tea into a cup and add milk/ cream and sugar to taste.
Sip & Enjoy!
Xoxo,
The Real Juhi Sharma
