Masala Chai / Tea ...!!!

Chai / Tea is a flavored beverage made by brewing black tea with milk, sugar and aromatic indian spices. I love to call it as “ Chai “ ( not sure why ) , i am a pukka South Indian though! I started liking chai when I was in college. My grandmother used to make it for me every morning ! She made variety of chai’s .. Ginger , cardamom, chocolate, cinnamon , coriander, jaggery etc... all the different varieties of my pati’s will be really tasty ! I will be posting one by one !

This chai is very very close to my heart because i have so many memories associated with my paternal grandmother. Chai is an emotion for me (rather than a drink) . Before marriage, I always have a cup of morning chai during the weekdays and two cups during the weekends (morning and late afternoon). The late afternoon (between 3 and 4pm chai)  was a lovely grandmother- granddaughter time. We chit chat , gossip , talk about ramayana, mahabaratham and so many stories. Right after my bachelor’s & before joining work, i was at home, and she taught me to make perfect chai. Once i learnt, i used to make the afternoon chai for both of us, enjoy it with a couple of marie biscuits (her favorite) sitting in the balcony. Every time after finishing the tea,

She : “ ரொம்ப நன்னா இருக்கு “.
Me : “ பாட்டி, உங்களோட டீ டேஸ்ட் கிட்ட கூட இல்ல”.
She : “ அது வரும் போட போட. “

I always cherish those wonderful times. After marriage, it became 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the afternoon on all days since i am a homemaker. I always prefer to spend 5 minutes of undisturbed lone chai time every morning. I get a positive energy to go through the long day. So, i used to finish cooking before 7am , pack my husband’s breakfast and lunch, sit for 5 minutes, sip it by enjoying the view of lovely sunrise through the living room window. That 5 minutes is very precious for me as it gives me so much energy to do all the chores. My parents and in-laws are coffee people in the morning. They drink only the evening chai. So i loved the evening chai with them when they visit us. A movie will always be a good company for us during the chai time. I always try to create memories with chai. I have a friend here in Tulsa, OK who loves chai. Whenever we visit each other, the first thing that we do is put a chai and drink together chit chatting.

Chai lovers...... Enjoy each sip with the lovable people around you , make wonderful memories that you can cherish for a lifetime...Small things in life can create beautiful memories.. LIVE LAUGH LOVE ! Dedicating this post to my grandmother and to all those people who loves chai.


Preparation time :  5  minutes
Cooking time      :  7-10 minutes

Ingredients :

Water.                    - 1/2 cup
Milk                      - 1/2 cup
Green cardamom  - 1
Ginger grated       - 1tbsp
Cinnamon            -  1 inch piece
Clove.                  - 1
Tea powder.         - 1 tbsp
Sugar.                  - 1.5 tbsp

In a saucepan, add water. After a minute, add green cardamom, clove, cinnamon and grated ginger. Let it come to a good boil.

Add the tea powder and sugar. Boil it for a couple of minutes until you realize the tea water became thick.

Add milk during this stage. Let it come to a boil. Turn off the flame when the milk starts boiling. 

Leave it for a minute until the essence of the herbs and spices blend with the milk.

Serve hot ! Enjoy with your favorite cookie !

Matka Chai !!!!!