Sue Zann Toh

Chai is Indian spiced tea. There’s a great many ways to make chai with different quantities and variety of spices used. This particular recipe is a pretty basic and simple chai recipe. I would have included some fresh ginger, but there wasn’t any in the house when I hacked together this recipe.

Makes 2 cups, or if you’re like me, you’ll drink it all yourself.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of water
• ½ to 1 cinnamon stick or quill
• 8 cardamon pods
• 8 cloves
• 8 black peppercorns
• ½ cup of milk
• 4 tsp sugar
• 2-3 teabags, good quality, strong, black tea

Instructions

1. Add the water and spices to a saucepan and bring to boil.
2. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add milk and sugar and bring back to boil.
4. Turn off heat and add teabags and steep for 2-3 minutes.
5. Strain chai into cup and serve immediately.

Suggestions and Tips

• When boiling anything that contains milk, watch over the saucepan closely. Milk tends to boil over very quickly if you take your eyes off it
• I like my chai quite moderately strong, so I opt for 3 teabags and steep for 3 minutes. For weaker tea, use less teabags or steep for 2 minutes. The only way to find out which you prefer is to test it out.