I used to bring this chai to work and folks asked me how it’s made, so here ya go. It’s pretty spicy, from ginger, red pepper, and black pepper. I have no idea how faithful this is to true Indian chai, so I’ll just call it “chai" in the sense of a tea-based drink. ☺☕
Spices
- 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 20 cloves
- 25 green cardamom pods
- 2 sticks of cinnamon
- 2 star anise
- 1 tbsp fresh ground ginger
Tea
- 4–5 tbsps black, ideally Assam, tea.
Preparation
Boil the spices with 1qt of water in a large pot. Once the water is boiling, add a quart of milk, then boil that (watch out for boil-over!).
Add the tea. Wait 5 minutes or so. Strain it out. Drink it, potentially with sugar or another sweetener.
Variations
You can reduce the black pepper, red pepper, or ginger to make it less spicy. You could also use black cardamom if you want a smokier flavor.
