Masala Chai and some stories

Needless to say, I love Masala Chai! Last year, a few of my friends got homemade Masala Chai from me as a holiday gift  – does that explain my affinity towards this most famous drink of the world?

I started drafting this post 2 years back when I started story of cooks. First I thought I would write the history of tea. Then I realized no one cares about such details, and those information are fine for Wikipedia. So I decided to hear stories about tea and how it influences us.

When I was growing up, I drank Chai once (when I was 6 or 7) and got jaundice immediately. I am sure the tea had nothing to do with it, but my parents stopped giving me tea until my age became double digit. My morning would start with Ma’s Masala Chai and spicy puffed rice and the day would not complete without Baba’s black tea with lemon juice (golden tea). The picture below depicts my dad’s Golden Tea.

I never drank anything other than Black tea before I came to States.

Life changed a lot when I landed in States. I tried teas from Starbucks to Teavana, from Turkey to Sreelanka, green tea to white tea – and what not! Over the course of few years, my taste became refine and now I can tell if earl grey has bergamot or not. I lived one entire year without caffeine and right now I only drink decaffeinated green tea.

I regularly buy my decaffeinated green tea and Makaibari Darjeeling tea from  a Harvard Square tea store – Tealuxe. Their selection is huge, more importantly they are helluva cheaper than hotshot brands like Teavana. These are some different chai from Tealuxe.

Name of the teas in this photo: Ginger Ginseng, Decaf Highland, Masala Chai, Kashmiri Chai (our favorite), Ginseng Green Tea Chai, Tra Que Chai, Lung Ching Dragonwell.

But I love Masala Chai and in this post I have attached my Masala Chai recipe. Every Indian (even my mom) has their own masala chai recipe and it varies. If you read the stories below, you will find out, there is NO SINGLE RECIPE for Masala Chai.

Whenever I am making Masala Chai, I love to have it peacefully with a book and without any distractions. Often, I pair with savory Indian snacks (homemade or store bought) if the weather calls for it.

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Recipe for Masala Chai

My recipe has a strong kick of ginger and black pepper. Often I replace sugar with pure jaggery. I only use Makaibari Darjeeling tea from Tealuxe.

1 piece (2 inch) ginger

1 piece (1 inch) cinnamon sticks

5-6 green cardamom pods

5-6 black cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

3 cups water

3 teaspoons darjeeling tea (decaffeinated is also allowed)

1/4 cup whole milk

Sugar accordingly

1. In a mortar pestle add ginger, cinnamon sticks, green cardamom pods, black cloves, nutmeg, black peppercorns. Crush them until it forms a nice smooth paste.

2. In a sauce pan over medium-high heat, heat 3 cups water, ginger and spice paste, tea. When it starts to boil, reduce the flame and let it steep for 5 minutes or more. Add milk, sugar and mix it until it’s thoroughly combined. Take it aside and strain into cups and serve immediately.

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I thank and love each one of you, who took time from their busy life to help me finish this post. 

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Nithya Cocina Tea for me has been a significant part of my life as far as I can remember. Though I am open to trying all variety the one that can never leave my psyche is the ‘kadak’ ( strong) cup of milky, aromatic with spices and heartwarming ‘Chai’ , the one that brings together a whole nation no matter where you find yourself.

It’s origins in my life story has beginnings in the 1980’s , growing up in Nigeria where fresh milk itself was a rare commodity. My mother made her tea from local Lipton bags , flavored her ‘chai ka paani’ ( tea water) with ginger and cinnamon and whitened with ‘Peak’ milk ( the locally available evaporated milk). Since I hated the powdered milk which we were forced to drink she allowed me the occasional tea indulgence. The tea culture has been a legacy from my mother who was raised in Calcutta where tea was a way of life. Though by the age of 16 I had developed a taste for coffee as well and tea became something I shared with friends and loved ones. Come 1995 and I had moved to Bombay and college was upon me and that cinched the deal as far as ‘chai’ is concerned. Endless chai drinking sessions ensued right outside our college gathered around the ‘Tapri’ the tea shack, paired with whatever was the cheapest snack from the local eateries.
At home tea time combined with Gujrathi ‘naashta’ was the norm on Sundays.
When I moved to the United States drinking tea became the temporary cure for my homesickness and continues to be so. When the going gets tough my tea only gets stronger and gives me the boost I need for my morale. It has been over cups of tea that I’ve learnt the complexities of people, maneuvering myself around the complicated world of Indians abroad. The more you let them steep in a brew the more you get to know about their true nature. I’ve seen my share of friendships come and go over cups of this truth serum. 🙂
I’ve never caught on to the whole Green Tea fad but do enjoy a nice Chamomile or Peppermint tea with a dash of Manuka honey. When the weather takes a turn for the cold Hot Chai and fried delights make an appearance on Sunday evenings.
Apart from the tea I enjoy at home I have a local coffeehouse that makes a really ‘Heavenly’ hot chai tea latte that puts the oomph in my step on those gloomy days.
Teavana is another favorite of mine to visit when we travel to bigger cities. My favorite one there is their Wild Orange Blossom blend which is a refreshing whiff of flowery goodness.

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Abhishek Chanda Masala chai at 4pm, whole milk and no water, no sugar, reduced a bit on low flame. I put ginger, elaichi (cardamom) and clove 🙂

Aish Das-Padihari Not a tea person. But when I do drink tea, I prefer the Indian way – ginger and sugar and little milk

Arpita Roy I love tea so much but most favorite is ginger tea. Flavored ice tea is also very nice not to forget thai bobba ice tea.

Gloria Baker every day and any time and love teapots and cups of tea !

Jasmine Jazz Very British, strong black tea with milk. Malty in color, I drink as much as I can when I am back home <3

Jyothi Rajesh I not much of a tea person, but I have started drinking green tea-occasionally. I like the, lemon ginger green tea flavor

Latha Ganesan Ginger cardamom tea with milk and a dash of jaggery for sweetness.

Naina Puthran Ginger tea every evening except if it is too hot! 4 cups of green or white tea during the day.

Neha Mathur I am a tea person. Drink 2-3 cups of green tea everyday.

Preethi Prasad I am a Tea person. My day starts with Kadak Elaichi chai with Palm Jaggery. One cup in the morning.

Remya Elizabeth Anish I love tea with milk with cardamom every morning

Rupali Kadam I love to drink tea in the mornings and specially adrak (ginger) chai is my most favorite..

Sandhya Hariharan I love Masala Chai on a rainy day !! But on a daily basis, its English Tea.

Sangeetha Vijaykumar I start my day with black tea with a spoon of honey and a dash of lemon! #instantkickstart

Sonia Noor I love tea, I can’t lead a single day without tea and obviously milk tea.

Trisha Biswas Just plain Darjeeling tea (second flush is my favorite so far!). Sometimes I add chamomile or dried lemongrass to it.

Ushnish Ghosh Lipton Darjeeling with milk and sugar as bed tea and in the afternoon . that’s all these days

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Aishwarya Kalley Ginger tea with less milk and less sugar. If I run out of ginger I put masala which I buy from Indian store- Laxmi Tea masala. Love tea and biscuit any time! 🙂

Amrita Chakraborti: Without tea I don’t think any Indian can survive rather Bengali. I prefer tea in the evening after office with quiet lot of ginger. I love the taste of ginger in tea. In tea most important is the kind of tea leaves. Too much flavor/aroma I don’t like. Tea has to be strong 50-50 with 2% & water and the color has to be quiet brownish. I mostly get Tata tea gold here but recently I brought another kind from India which I am quiet liking it.

Amruta Iyer 1. Chai with milk, cardamom and ginger, brewed and boiled just right for that perfect color and consistency. 2. Green tea with lemon (usually at work so Lipton or Tetley brands) 3. Love varieties of jasmine and fruit teas and ensure I buy some local house blends from small shops and cafes if I like something they make. Last batch I got was from a beautiful tea house in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Angela Nelson My day starts the same every day: Making my husband a giant container of iced tea. Four cups Poland Spring water to a boil, then add 6 black tea bags and 2 English breakfast bags. Let steep for at least 20 minutes. Then fill his huge to-go container with ice, a wedge of lemon squeezed in, two scoops of sugar and fill with tea. Then shake well and probably add more ice.

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Bijal Parikh Masala chai with mint leaves 50/50 ratio of water n milk . I can have wen m not in mood , wen m tired n early morning is like addiction . 2 mugs tea n I love tea any time.And I like my tea most n also carry masala chai packs while traveling too 🙂

Bobby Arora Kochar I love my bed tea without sugar and with very less milk…l love drinking green tea too..especially jasmine and rose tea

Charul Ajmera I don’t drink tea but my mom and husband are a fan. Their mornings wouldn’t start without a huge cup. My mom is very forgiving with it and you can tweak hers here and there. The husband on the other hand is very very particular not just about what should go into his tea but how and when too. He rarely likes tea made by anyone else other than a few people who really know how he likes it. And when he does, it is such a relief for me.

Chatori Ladki: During my family vacation to Rishikesh, I had Ginger tea at German Bakery overlooking Laxman Jhula!! Since then Ginger tea had made its way to my early morning tea ritual.

Gungun Chanda I am a tea lover to the core and it has to be Darjeeling tea(Goodricke Roasted) , and of course without milk and sugar. The golden liquid is what I drink first thing in the morning and another 4/5 cups till the late evening. I bring my tea from Kolkata as its not available in Mumbai.

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Janani Krishnakumaar I love my tea strong . It has all the spices in it and the min I switch off the tea, I add a handful of mint leaves to it n the whole house smells so good. If u have headache, then mint is a must to have. All my guest loves this tea

Jaya Roy True blue bong.. Darjeeling steeped for few minutes, black and no sugar. a morning is incomplete without it… I carry it across the world on my travels and sometimes in Delhi winters. Assam CTC boiled with cloves and milk….

Karthika Gopalakrishnan I love masala chai ! Unsweetened tea with lemon; Kerala katta chai are my favorites. While preparing tea, add cardamom, cloves and dry ginger powder along with tea powder. Once the tea is done, squeeze lemon directly into chai. The color will turn into golden. This is called as kattan Chaya in Kerala.

Karuna Kumar I love my tea. Start my day with a cup of Green tea with a dash of honey. During the day cannot do without Earl Grey. At times yes I do like ginger tea with less sugar.

Krithika C Sekaran My love for tea is divided between Green tea and the traditional milk tea! At home, it is a 50-50 between both depending on the time of the day, but when I am out, I love having the proper milk-tea in small restaurants and small chai-shops, and green tea in fine-dining, more so coz I am apprehensive of not getting a good “Chai” at the latter!!!

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Lija Bejoy : I like my tea with ginger and cardamom made the Indian way boiled and brewed. A hint of chilli powder (a pinch) does make a difference. I love it to have it with my spicy South Indian breakfast and some days in the evening too. If in India, especially if you are a north malabar Keralite you have a mid day tea and evening tea with delish Kerala delicacies like kalathappam (a steamed cake made with rice and jaggery), ariunda (sweetened rice balls made with rice, coconut and jaggery), pazham pori (banana fritters), plaintain chips or unniappam (deep fried rice balls with banana jaggery and coconut), unnakaya (ripe bananas ground and filled with coconut), kallumakai nirachath (cooked mussels mixed with rice and spices made into balls & deep fried). This is just a few. I can go on and on.. For me the best tea is the tea with any of these traditional snacks

Manisha Rajput I am addicted to chai made by my Meenaben….oh so good and refreshing chai with added of ginger, mint leaves and green tea leaves and sugar free.

Martha Hopkins My husband and I each drink a pot of tea in the morning. I have a darjeeling with a tiny bit of half and half and 1 sugar cube in the whole pot. He usually has a silverneedle or a green or something with a tropical flavor (from coconut). I love coconut but hate any tropical teas. I also drink lemon zinger with loads of fresh lemon in the winter or when I’m sick. Yes, I know lemon zinger is disgusting. : ) We both detest rooibus and I hate anything with hibiscus. Love super strong homemade ginger tea in winter or when tummy hurts.

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Nirav Katrodia Earl Grey!! Love my cup of Earl Grey after lunch or dinner or all the time. Start my day with it and can end with it. Love the flavour and the aroma. Love it mildly hot to get the flavor!

Niv Mani masala chai with ginger and cardamom. any other extra spice addition ruins it for me. my alternative is a brew of Vetiver, tulsi, cardamom, clove & saffron. Mukesh Tailor I like my tea strong – Kadak(strong) Masala Chai with literally a drop of milk. It needs to be rightly spiced with chai masala and ginger. Just two cups do it for me, once at breakfast and the other in afternoon tea time.

Paroma Chakravarty I am not a big tea drinker, but I love my Moroccan mint tea. I love it in the evenings after I’ve had a crappy day at work:-)

Philip Matuskiewicz I love iced sencha green tea, but it has to be cold infused over 2-3 days. Unfortunately, I usually settle for Starbucks, Dunkin, or any other type of iced green tea I can get my hands on. As for time of day, I have it all the time as my choice drink, unsweetened without lemon, but I especially like it an hour after waking up in the morning and with meals.

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Pooja Khanna Tea goes with me, love tea with my husband when we wake up, after dinner. During the day Chamomile several cups. Love sometime Ginger in my tea actually all types Masala tea 🙂 but no sugar in any cup

Prita Dheer I love tea. Ginger tea, masala tea, cutting chai of Mumbai streets, English Breakfast tea (!) in restaurants… I love them all n can have at any time of day or night. It’s the Green tea which I have yet to figure out!

Priya Shiva I love love love tea! I start my day with a ginger tea. Then I switch over to green tea which could be flavored (hot or cold) depending on my mood. Then evening again ginger or masala tea. I can think of tea as a detox or even think of it in my cocktail

Rae Mamidanna Love my Rooibos loose leave with some adrak, little bit of fresh turmeric root, Eliachi, cinnamon boiled with some milk and add honey to just give it a the right sweetness ..drink it hot !

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Rafeeda AR I love my tea but off it now for medical reasons, and miss it terribly. I love it milky and strong with a nice dash of cardamom and dry ginger… *sigh*

Rekha Shivakumar We are a ‘filter kaapi’ addict family 🙂 But after moving to London the cold weather tempted me to make masala chai more often. Now we are addicted to it. We love it especially during rainy evenings with hot bajji or pakoda. Sometimes when I am alone in midmornings I will have a cup of masala chai with lots of ginger & cardamom along with biscuit.

Richa Gupta I love my cup of tea in the evenings. It’s my five minutes of quiet after a long day. Recently, I’ve been obsessing over tea accessories and infusers and have been experimenting with blends which are made from single estate teas. I hate adding milk to my tea because I feel it takes away from the actual flavor of the tea and prefer it simple with either honey or no sweetener.

Rimli Dey  I am a sucker for flavored or complex tea instead of plain simple one. My all time favorites are Indian Masala Chai (with all spices and also with individual spices like ginger/cardamom tea), raspberry/strawberry/blueberry tea, Darjeeling tea or lemon tea in the morning (depending on my mood). For masala tea I don’t trust store bought one, I make my own mix with freshly ground spices whenever I need and I prefer to use Assam tea for these types of Chai. I only buy these masala chai tea bags when I’m travelling and I trust ‘Taj Mahal’ for that purpose. But somehow I couldn’t like green tea, I tried few times with different brands but never felt anything like tea in it.

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Rinku Bhattacharya Love tea, usually stick to black Darjeeling tea that I enjoy drinking straight up, hot and once in a while I might add ginger.

Sandipa Roy Barman I love my 2 cups a day and can’t do without them. We belong to the “Snobbish Tea drinkers” club who love their Darjeeling tea with a little sugar and milk-English Tea. Recently learnt to enjoy black Darjeeling tea too. I carry my blend on trips too.

Saniya Tadha Ghasura : Depends on mood; mood change making of tea change: morning will never start without tea so I take ginger tea , mint tulsi (basil), lemongrass together in tea , black tea with dates, tea with 1 tablespoon of milk in it, masala tea, only cardamom tea….I feel a really tea taste will only come without sugar so I don’t add sugar in any tea. Tea is must 3 times a day. Yeah ice tea tooooo so tea in any form is must.

Sheetal Bhatt: I am a tea addict to the core. there was a time I would drink 7-8 cups of tea, being a Gujarati I prefer strong tea with milk but no sugar but lots of fresh mint, lemon grass, ginger and tulsi (basil) leaves all pounded together and added to our chai. All these greens are grown in our garden but when they aren’t in season the home made chai masala is added. The tea leaves we use are also quite strong. We like to call our Chai ‘kadak-Mithi’ meaning strong and sweet.

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Sheilly Agrawal Love freshly ground masala chai every morning. I put grated ginger with tea leaves, freshly ground cardamom, black pepper, and cloves too. A little easy on milk, and boiled to perfection. Lately have also started adding fresh tulsi or basil leaves for extra fragrance and flavor!

Shruti Cookingwithsj I’m a tea-lover!!! Morning never starts without ginger chaiii (Gujrati after all) and evening one can be any flavor i.e. pudina (mint) chai, elaichi (cardamom) chai, simple masala chai etc.

Simi Jois My favorite drink is coffee but in summer I love fruit infused chilled tea – naturally sweetened with fruit n honey. In winter I love green tea or my favorite is genmaicha – no milk n honey.

Sindhu Sriram I’m not a tea person. But some days I’ve a craving to drink a nice spicy ginger tea. So I go to my neighbors home and enjoy. My tea making skills are zero!! I enjoy green tea and Jasmine tea a lot!!

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Smruti Ashar-Shah Every morning begins with Chai. Home-grown ginger, tulsi (Indian basil), green tea leaves and tea masala go into my tea each morning 🙂

Sonali Chopra Nijhawan : Earl grey or Lopchu is my favorite. I Need my cup in the early evening hours. Lopchu is the finest of Darjeeling tea. It is the most sought over Darjeeling tea in the world. http://lopchu.com/

Sonali Suratkar-Sonalkar Love my black tea every morning and evening with ginger and or mint leaves, whole milk and little bit of sugar. It needs to be slightly kadak(strong). In the winters, I love it with some cinnamon or ground tea masala. In Mumbai, I enjoy the tea my dad makes – he adds lemongrass and a lot more milk and let’s it steep for the flavors to infuse

Sonali Suratkar-Sonalkar Love my black tea every morning and evening with ginger and or mint leaves, whole milk and little bit of sugar. It needs to be slightly kadak(strong) 🙂 In the winters, I love it with some cinnamon or ground tea masala. In Mumbai, I enjoy the tea my dad makes – he adds lemongrass and a lot more milk and let’s it steep for the flavors to infuse.

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Sowmya Sundararajan I love coffee but I equally love tea. There are days when I feel I have to ditch coffee and indulge in some Tea. This happens on rainy days and specially after I have Chaat or a spicy snack. I like my Tea strong, mildly sweet with sugar or jaggery but definitely without cardamom or ginger flavorings. I also like adding milk powder or condensed milk to retain the milky feel. Somehow, I feel adding flavorings makes the Tea taste like ‘Kheer’. I am off to make a cup for me.

Sujata Das Masala chai with milk.. I love the aroma of the spices so much. I use the Gujrati tea masala found in Indian Grocery stores here. It is a blend of several spices. If I am not using that spice mix mentioned above then I have it with either ginger or cardamom. Somehow I do not like to mix them together. Love lemon tea as well with masala puffed rice. Last but not the least just plain tea with milk and sugar made by my Mom. There’s something so accurate in it though it’s just a simple tea, Mom’s special I believe.  Usually I have a cup in morning to have a kickstart of the day and one in the evening with evening snack.

Suparna Das I prefer Tulsi spiced water in morning with honey or palm candy. If I don’t have fresh Tulsi leaves then I take Tulsi tea from fab India with ginger and honey. In evening I like different flavored tea according to my mood. It is mostly ginger and my own mixed cardamom, cinnamon flavored. I mostly take my tea without milk as my husband prefers it. But sometimes I love to sip traditional milk tea while I am relaxing at evening after work. Few days back I had Earl Grey, that was really awesome. I don’t have stock now. I am kind of missing it.

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Yogita Miharia My only addiction is tea! I drink 3 cups a day typically. Ginger tea, I mean a lot of ginger. I am very particular about my tea, and it all depends on the quality of ginger. The only store that I approve ginger from is Stop and Shop, anywhere else doesn’t have the flavor, be it organic or not. Oh boy, I can keep writing about tea, that’s how much I love it 😉

Some tea recipes from my friends:

Trupti:

https://myculinarysaga.com/2015/12/18/ginger-tea-adrakwali-chai/

Amrita:

http://thefoodsamaritan.com/masala-chaiindian-masala-tea/

http://thefoodsamaritan.com/kahwa-chaikashmiri-pink-tea/

http://thefoodsamaritan.com/peach-iced-tea

Deepali:

http://lemoninginger.com/…/lemongrass-ginger-herbal-tea/

http://lemoninginger.com/2014/09/12/hot-lemon-tea/

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