Above: Various spices used in chai. Photos by Susanna Donato.
Learn the skills of a chai wallah by creating your own delicious, homemade blend of chai masala. Just follow these directions.
In our temperate North American climate, October means crisp blue skies, the sweet dusty smell of leaves piling up beneath trees, and of course, a burning desire for warm, spicy food and drink.
Nothing says “you’re home” in fall like a pot of something to warm you up. I love to draw that warmth from around the world: Fall is for chai masala.
“Chai” means tea in many languages, and “masala” means mixed spices in some Asian languages. In the world’s biggest coffee chain, a place where the littlest drink is “tall” and mixed lingos rule, “chai latte” is the international term for spicy tea with milk.
A warm cup of chai
In India, the person who makes and serves chai masala is known as a chai wallah. In areas where no master of chai is handy, you can do the job yourself.
Of course, you can stop into a café or buy a boxed, condensed version of chai. If you do so, expand your horizons by asking about locally available brews. (In Colorado, where I live, some cafes carry locally microbrewed Bhakti Chai, a fiery, spicy variety.) Or you can save money and gain insight by brewing your own.
Brew in Bulk
For years, my husband has made chai in large batches — about a half-gallon (2L). The recipe is flexible and easy to personalize: add more pepper and ginger if you like it spicy; more cinnamon and vanilla for a smoother, sweeter style. But the basics are:
Put a large pot of water to boil.
Toss in spices (refer to leading image): About 1/4 cup (approximately 30) green cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick or two, 3-4 star anise, about 12 cloves (too many will make it numbing), a few slices from a ginger root or a teaspoon of ginger powder, a teaspoon of black peppercorns, and a piece of nutmeg and/or a vanilla bean if you like.
Boil for 30 minutes to an hour. Your house will be infused with the good smell.
Tea brewing
Turn off the heat, add tea — 1/4 cup of tea powder, or about six black tea bags. Cover and steep 5 minutes.
Strain into a pitcher. Stir in a spoonful of vanilla extract and sweeten to taste.
To serve, heat gently with milk to taste.
The whole process takes about an hour, largely unsupervised, and you can keep the pitcher in your refrigerator for a few days, reheating as you like. Explore local markets to find spices in bulk — you’ll have a travel souvenir or a new local haunt, and you’ll save money, too.
Authentic Style
You can also boil the mixture together with milk for a strong, creamy drink that is much closer to real Indian chai masala. Caveat: India is still on my travel wish list, so feel free to chime in with your own recipes or tips if you know better! But I can guarantee this tastes fantastic.
You can crush or grind the same spices used above. Out of curiosity, I recently picked up a packet of masala chai mix at our local Indian market. The word online is that these pre-packaged spices might be stale, but this shop is well-regarded and busy.
This style is best made to serve immediately. Double or triple the recipe if you’re serving more than one.
Bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil.
Masala chai mix
Add 1/2 teaspoon chai spice mix (or to taste — our mixture’s ingredients begin with black pepper and ginger, so it is very spicy). Boil 1 minute.
Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon tea powder (powdered tea reportedly holds up better and produces better flavor than tea leaves when boiled vigorously like this; we had some Ethiopian tea powder on hand). Boil 1 minute.
Add 1 cup of milk. (Some swear by using only half-and-half or whole milk to be really rich and creamy.) Bring close to a boil.
When the mixture is almost boiling, remove it from the heat for a few moments. Then put it back. Repeat this process — a dance of almost boiling, removal, return close to the boil — 5-7 times.
Steep, covered, off the heat for two minutes.
Strain the mixture and enjoy.
Boiled chai masala is richer in taste and more expensive to make, with the milk or cream, not to mention the personal effort. You can make it while doing other kitchen chores — I’ve been known to brew it up while emptying the dishwasher — but it’s also wonderful to be contemplative about it. Mixing up this spicy goodness can be nourishing to the soul, as well as the body. Breathe it in, connect and enjoy. Namaste!
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16 Comments... join the discussion!
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Tea is my comfort drink, I nearly lost my mind last week when I ran out of teabags. Looks like I’ll have to start brewing in bulk too. Great recipe!
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This is fantastic. I’m addicted to chai. Thanks for the recipe!
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I hope you enjoy it! We’re now under six inches of snow, and I think some spicy tea will hit the spot …
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Thanks so much for this article Susanna! I’ve been hunting for good chai since returning from India…where do you usually get your spices in bulk? I really regret not bringing any back with me
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I’m doing this, if nothing else, to make the house smell like spices. Great article!
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Gabriela, if you are in a city, I’d look for local Indian or Asian markets. Check local directories, online reviews, or if you have a strip of ethnic stores, head to those areas. Sometimes African markets have the same/similar spices, and sometimes Latin ones do, too.
If that’s not available to you, I would check around online. A quick search turned up this site in the UK http://www.pureindianspices.co.uk/. I’ve also heard good things about this store, based in my home state of Colorado USA http://www.savoryspiceshop.com/spices.html.
(I have no ties to those businesses and have not used either personally — they are just examples.)↵ -
Lebu Cha (Bengali) , Nimbu Chai ( Hindi) or lemon tea is the easiest to make if you don’t have access to masala. I use rocksalt (or just plain salt), a lot of lemon, a little ginger and a dash of sugar. It’s my comfort drink.
A really really great article
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Lebu cha sounds like it would also be an excellent aid to fighting the cough/sore throat that is going around here now!
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My most favourite drink in the world! If you happen to buy pre-ground chai masala and the spices turn out to be a bit flat (ie. old and losing their flavour) to can revive them to an extent by pan roasting them in a dry pan for a couple of minutes before using them. But after they are too old, forget it! If you find an Indian shop and they sell packets of chai masala, just have a go at asking if they have any in smaller amounts or “loose”. They often keep some in a container behind the till/ counter in our shops in NZ and also in England. This theoretically is turned over a bit quicker than the packets so, in my experience, is usually fresher.
Here’s my take http://www.threespoons.co.nz/2009/09/desperately-seeking-spices.html↵ -
Update: I just tried this out. Delicious. But my Scottish father is making puking noises.
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Well, didn’t the Scots invent haggis? So to each his/her own.
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Hi,
I being a NRI, i wated an indian taste to my tea. A google of store for tea masala made me land on http://spicesonline.info
They have not listed it on their website. I emailed them and they parcelled me the package with the tea masala.
If u need a great tasting tea, you can go here.
Cheers to ur morning tea.
Chetan
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I often make some green chai with honey for my mom. I also chop up ginger and put it into my masala chai for a bad throat or a cold. It’s such a comfort drink, great article, thanks!
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Ah, chai. Every Indian I know could argue for hours about the way chai should be made, the best chai that one can get within a reasonable distance, the spices used…but of course, my recipe is the best (just kidding).
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I lived in India for a while and found that the best chai had loads of fresh ginger slices and cardamom (you’ll get much more flavour out of these if you de-pod and lightly crush the seeds).
I would NOT recommend using the ground pre-mixes. The flavour is not the same and you’ll won’t have an opportunity to adjust the spices to perfect your own recipe! (At least half the fun!)
My recipe uses about an inch of water in the bottom of a pot, with the spices and a loose-leaf black tea in from the getgo. I bring it to a boil for about 10 minutes before adding exponentially more milk and bringing to a light boil for a second time. This is a ‘cooked tea’ and you’ll find you get the strength of tea necessary for when you’re using a greater proportion of milk (probably closer to 75/25 milk to water ratio). At the end, you add sugar to taste (LOTS if you’re going for an authentic flavour). Traditionally, buffalo milk is used, which I find far creamier than the cows milk we use in North America. I opt for higher fat content, but you can use whatever suits your taste.
Hope you enjoy!
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