Richard Whelan ~ Medical Herbalist

Recipe - Ingredients & Instructions

Get a large saucepan - the following amounts are to make a good 2+ litres of Chai which you can either serve to a group of friends or put into a thermos to enjoy through the day (because if you're going to this much trouble to make a cup of tea then you ought to get a lot of enjoyment out of it!)
fill the saucepan with approximately 1.5 to 2 litres of water and turn the heat on to full
Add approx 2 'thumbs' (that means an amount that is at least as big as your thumb) of coarsely cut fresh ginger to the water - note the Ginger is optional, traditional Masala Chai is not made with fresh ginger and it is quite wonderful without it, but for the hundred reasons that Ginger is good for you it can be entirely worth the little bit of extra work this step requires.
Get your mortar and pestle (if possible you want to use a good strong stone one) and then add the following spices all together before you start grinding them. I guess you could use an electronic grinder but would it be the same as pounding and grinding yourself? I don't think so...
Note that this is where making your chai gets particularly interesting as small adjustments in the amount of spices you use will give a markedly different flavour to the chai. I am giving a suggested range that, whether you go higher or lower, should still taste quite terrific.
Cardamom pods about 12, plus or minus(these give a tremendous amount of flavour to the chai - don't be shy and do experiment with going higher and lower to your taste!
Black peppercorns 6-10 (this will again greatly influence how 'hot' it tastes - adjust to the season
Cloves 2 (just a very light touch with these is best, you may prefer to go down to 1 or up to 3)
Cinnamon about one small whole 'log' (cinnamon comes in a lot of different strengths, this also influences the flavour a great deal so try smaller to higher amounts)
Nutmeg - maybe about a quarter of a Nutmeg, again higher or lower will make a big difference
grind all these spices up until they are well and truly broken up - inhale deep!
place all of them in that pot of water which has been steadily getting hotter all the time
put in a good amount of sugar at this point. I recommend a small handful of sugar with the amounts we are talking about making here but you can try more or less to your taste. I mostly use Coconut sugar but raw sugar is perfectly ok too.
then add about one cup of milk, give or take, normal cow's milk is what is mostly used but Goats, or Oat milk works perfectly well and no-one ever knows the difference unless I tell them.
Depending on what kind of heat you are using and how long it takes you to grind the spices etc. you should be near to getting your pot up to a simmer. Don't let it boil over but do allow the spices, the water and the milk to 'roil' around on a gentle simmer for at least 5 minutes - you can cook it longer, certainly up to as long as 15 minutes if you want to get an even stronger and spicier tea but somewhere around 10 minutes usually seems about right.
then add approx 2-3 good dessertspoons of the best black loose-leaf tea you can find - it should smell excellent, be well and truly black, and it should not be too crumbly in your fingers but rather have a crisp dryness (this is a measure of its freshness) - how long you let the tea simmer will again make a great deal of difference to the end product. I personally don't like to drink tea strong so I only leave it in for less than 2 minutes - and certainly no-one ever thinks they are drinking overly weak tea, but if you like your normal tea to be much stronger then of course you can keep it brewing longer in your Chai.

Naturally enough this is quite a tricky pot of tea to strain. You can sieve out most of the tea and spices using a good sized sieve and then strain it into a jug over a sink or, what I do is to pour the tea (in two halves) into a large glass coffee plunger, where when you push the plunger down to remove the debris the tea is well strained.

You can then pour the tea directly into a thermos to enjoy over the day or into the cups that you have ready when serving it right then and there to your friends or family!

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This living 'book' is my labour of love so, wherever you are, I wish you peace & good health!