Re: Chai

[Anthony D'Costa <dcosta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

to get the most out what you use, use a mortar and a pestle to break the
ginger root and similarly grind the "masala".  best to boil the milk first
(whole milk is preferred), add the tea (ordinary tea bags (unflavored)
will do-- goes to how low some people sink when they could be drinking
fine Darjeeling tea in its pure form:)  need to stir constantly else
the milk will stick to the pan and might even boil over if you are not
careful.  Add lots of sugar!

enjoy!

anthony
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Anthony P. D'Costa, Associate Professor
Comparative International Development
University of Washington                        Campus Box 358436
1900 Commerce Street
Tacoma, WA 98402, USA

Phone: (253) 692-4462
Fax :  (253) 692-5718
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On Thu, 4 Mar 2004, ravi wrote:

> joanna bujes wrote:
> > Hey Ravi,
> >
> > Do you or Dyvia know how to make "masala" chai? The blends they sell are
> > really expensive and my guess
> > would be that it's basically black tea + spices. But which spices? and
> > how much?
> >
>
> replying on-list since trade in spices and tea where probably the
> beginning of economic theory ;-). 'masala' is a bit of a generic term
> and the word 'chai' has been abducted and misused so badly that its
> meaning is unknown to me. so, i'll stick to what indians refer to as
> masala chai, and here's a note from divya:
>
> > every masala chai is diff. but in general the spices that can be used
> > are cinammon, cardamom (small green elaichi), ginger and cloves.
> > just boil a little of these spices with the regular desi chai of tea
> > leaves, milk and sugar.
>
> desi = indian. if you wish, instead of tea leaves, you can buy indian
> tea powder (and all of the listed spices) at your local indian store.
> you may even find a pre-mixed chai masala there. 'taj mahal' is a decent
> brand for the tea powder. typically the milk is boiled with the tea, not
> added to boiled water.
>
>         --ravi
>