Until 15 years ago, I was a tea-guzzler. I could drink tea - anytime, everytime. But 15 years ago, something happened and in my bargain with God, I gave up the most precious thing to me - at that time - TEA. I thank her every day of my life for that little bargain. Oh and BTW - I am a coffee-guzzler for the past 15 years.
Getting back to the reason of this blog, I am going to tell you how I make cha no masalo or chai ka masala. Everyone I know make this masala at home, in bulk. It is then stored in air-tight container.
You can either work with powders, but working with the whole pieces, somehow tastes better. You will need:
1/2 cup of cinnamom (taj) - broken into small pieces - so that it can be grounded later.
1/6 cup of cloves (laving)
1/3 cup of black peppercorns (mari)
1/3 cup of green cardamom (elaichi)
10 pieces of black cardamom (moti elaichi - the kind we use to make garam masala)
2 pieces of whole star anise
2 teaspoons of mace powder
1 teaspoon of nutmeg (jaiphal) powder - grated the whole seed to get powder
1/2 cup of ginger powder (soonth)
You can grind everything as is or you can either dry roast everything, except - soonth, green cardamom, mace and nutmeg powder. If you have constipation problems, please do not put jaiphal in your masalo.
Grind all the above ingredients and keep it in an air-tight container.
If you are using powders:
3 tablespoons of ginger powder - soonth
3 tablespoons of green cardamom powder - elaichi - i powder the green shells too - powdered after dry roasting
1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder - taj
1 tablespoon of cloves powder - laving - powdered after dry roasting
1.5 tablespoon of black pepper powder
1.5 tablespoon of black cardamom - after dry roasting
1 teaspoon of star anise powder - after dry roasting
2 teaspoons of mace powder
1 teaspoon of nutmeg powder - see my comment about constipation
sometimes, the soonth powder is not strong enough - you can add more -
some folks increase the quantity of the black pepper powder (mari), as they like their tea to be spicy.
you can try any variation - depending upon your taste.
Now let's make 2 cups of chai: (I use skim milk in our house. But, if you make the tea with Vit D milk - then it becomes a ragdo (many people love this type of chai).
Take 1 cup of milk and put in the microwave for 1:10
In a pan, add one and 1/8 cup of water. Add freshly grated ginger, about 1/2 teaspoon. Add 1/2 teaspoon of your freshly prepared cha no masalo. Add 3-4 leaves of fudina (mint leaves). Add 1/4th stem of lemon grass (lili cha). Boil this - the smell is heavenly.
Once it starts boiling, add two spoons of sugar and 2 spoons of the CTC Mamri Cha (loose Indian tea leaves). Continue boiling. Once you feel it has boiled and all the masalas are properly incorporated, add the milk from the microwave. As soon as it starts to boil, shut the electric stove off. It will continue to boil. Once it starts to simmer, cover it for 3-4 minutes. Serve it hot with a namkeen.
God, how crazy I used to be for this tea!!
Getting back to the reason of this blog, I am going to tell you how I make cha no masalo or chai ka masala. Everyone I know make this masala at home, in bulk. It is then stored in air-tight container.
You can either work with powders, but working with the whole pieces, somehow tastes better. You will need:
1/2 cup of cinnamom (taj) - broken into small pieces - so that it can be grounded later.
1/6 cup of cloves (laving)
1/3 cup of black peppercorns (mari)
1/3 cup of green cardamom (elaichi)
10 pieces of black cardamom (moti elaichi - the kind we use to make garam masala)
2 pieces of whole star anise
2 teaspoons of mace powder
1 teaspoon of nutmeg (jaiphal) powder - grated the whole seed to get powder
1/2 cup of ginger powder (soonth)
You can grind everything as is or you can either dry roast everything, except - soonth, green cardamom, mace and nutmeg powder. If you have constipation problems, please do not put jaiphal in your masalo.
Grind all the above ingredients and keep it in an air-tight container.
If you are using powders:
3 tablespoons of ginger powder - soonth
3 tablespoons of green cardamom powder - elaichi - i powder the green shells too - powdered after dry roasting
1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder - taj
1 tablespoon of cloves powder - laving - powdered after dry roasting
1.5 tablespoon of black pepper powder
1.5 tablespoon of black cardamom - after dry roasting
1 teaspoon of star anise powder - after dry roasting
2 teaspoons of mace powder
1 teaspoon of nutmeg powder - see my comment about constipation
sometimes, the soonth powder is not strong enough - you can add more -
some folks increase the quantity of the black pepper powder (mari), as they like their tea to be spicy.
you can try any variation - depending upon your taste.
Now let's make 2 cups of chai: (I use skim milk in our house. But, if you make the tea with Vit D milk - then it becomes a ragdo (many people love this type of chai).
Take 1 cup of milk and put in the microwave for 1:10
In a pan, add one and 1/8 cup of water. Add freshly grated ginger, about 1/2 teaspoon. Add 1/2 teaspoon of your freshly prepared cha no masalo. Add 3-4 leaves of fudina (mint leaves). Add 1/4th stem of lemon grass (lili cha). Boil this - the smell is heavenly.
Once it starts boiling, add two spoons of sugar and 2 spoons of the CTC Mamri Cha (loose Indian tea leaves). Continue boiling. Once you feel it has boiled and all the masalas are properly incorporated, add the milk from the microwave. As soon as it starts to boil, shut the electric stove off. It will continue to boil. Once it starts to simmer, cover it for 3-4 minutes. Serve it hot with a namkeen.
God, how crazy I used to be for this tea!!
