A cup of tea is one of the inegral part of our mornings .Isnt it ? We start our day with a cup of tea......Why not spice morning tea adding a spoon of tea masala ( chahacha masala / chai ka masala)
By itself, chai or cha or chaha (in marathi) is merely the generic word for "tea" in many European and Asian languages. The widespread form chai comes from Persian چای chay.However, for many English speakers who refer to ordinary tea as "tea", the word "chai" has come to imply "masala chai". Masala chai (literally "mixed-spice tea") is a beverage from the Indian subcontinent made by brewing tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs.Chai is also a popular item in restaurants known as Irani cafés.
The simplest traditional method of preparing masala chai is to actively simmer or boil a mixture of milk and water with loose leaf tea, sweeteners, and whole spices.The method may vary according to taste or local custom: example, some households may combine all of the ingredients together at the start, bring the mixture to a boil, then immediately strain and serve; others may leave the mixture simmering for a longer amount of time, or begin by bringing the tea leaves to a boil and only add the spices toward the end (or vice-versa).A common Maharashtran practice for preparation of one cup of chai is to first combine one half cup of water with one half cup of milk in a pot over heat. Sugar may be added at this point or after. Ginger is then grated into the mixture followed by adding a "tea masala". There is no fixed recipe or preparation method for masala chai and many families have their own versions of the tea
Indian markets all over the world sell various brands of "chai masala", (Hindi चाय मसाला [chāy masālā], "tea spice") for this purpose, though many households blend their own.Although the ingredients may vary from region to region, "tea masala" typically consists of cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, ground cloves, ginger powder, and pepper powder.
Today I am mentioning my mausis recipe from the zeroxed copies of her treasured diaries .
Ingredients
1/4 cup cinnamon (dalchini) , cut into small pieces
8-10 cloves (laung / lavang)
1/4 cup black peppercorns (kalimirch)
1/4 cup cardamom (elaichi)
6 black cardamoms (badi elaichi)
1/4 cupmace (javantri), broken into pieces
1/2 nutmeg (jaiphal), grated
1/4 cupdried ginger powder (soonth)
Method
1.Dry roast the cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, and black cardamom for 7 to 8 minutes. Cool completely.
2.Add the mace, nutmeg and ginger powder and grind to make a fine powder.
3.Cool completely and store in an air-tight container.
4.Use as required to make your spiced masala tea.
5 To make masala chai, add one cup of water , 3/4 cup of milk,1 teaspoon of chai ka masala in a medium saucepan,& let it boil. Once it boils add 2 tsp sugar & 1 tsp tea powder & let it boil all while stirring.
Tips
1)Some people prefer way more milky tea than that and make equal proportions of water and milk. Some even use more milk than water. More milk leads to milder tea so choice is yours.
2) If you are tired of making tea masala powder at home here is a quick /short method for making masala chai.For making 2 two cups of tea.Bring the water, tea,milk sugar and 2 pieces each of cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, and black cardamom to a boil. Depending on preference and strength required determine the time for which you boil the tea. I prefer about 10 minutes. Strain and serve hot with Indian biscuits .
3) For an alternate recipe, consider adding star anise (badiyan/chakri phool) ,badishep (fennel seeds) and ginger.
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