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Chai goes hand in hand with Indian culture. I’ve actually been asked if I’m from India because until recently, I was never a chai drinker! Ahh please don’t come after me!
I blame my parents! For some reason, they never let my sister and I drink chai with them. Growing up, my mom would wake up early to make some tea for my dad before he went to work. Not sure why we weren’t invited to the tea parties at any time of the day, but hey! In the span of a few weeks, I’ve gone from someone who has had chai probably a small handful of times in my life to waking up in the morning and craving the taste of chai! If you follow me on Instagram, then you’ve seen me testing out the perfect cup of chai! I simply love the aroma and the nice spiciness and warmth that radiates from the chai!
You’re going to love this chai recipe, I guarantee! Whether you’re looking for a soothing warm drink in the morning or you want to have a great beverage to pair with your favourite snack in the afternoon, this simple chai recipe is going to be a staple drink!
For a full picture on how to make the best masala chai at home, be sure to watch the video so you can see me make it! If you’re not already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel! I love pairing the video recipes along with the written ones, so that you’re guaranteed success in your cooking journey! Time to get brewing!
What is Masala Chai?▼
Chai translates to tea, and a masala is a blend of spices. Therefore, chai would just be a milk tea, but this recipe is called Masala because we’re adding some aromatic spices. This recipe will show how to make the tea and how to make our chai masala, the blend of whole spices that we’ll add into the tea.
Do I say Chai Or Chai Tea?▼
Hehe. I always giggle when I hear Westerners say “chai tea.” I think Starbucks is an influence for this! As I mentioned earlier, chai directly translates to tea, so you’re saying “tea tea.” You want a “tea tea latte!” You can keep saying it of course, it sounds cool, just a little silly! If you want to be correct, saying chai is enough!
Why Make This Indian Chai Recipe?
I guarantee you’re going to love this chai recipe so much that if you’re a coffee drinker you’ll want to swap with this chai! Here are some reasons you must try this recipe!
- Quick: It only takes about 5 minutes to make, including making your chai masala!
- Aromatic: The spices smell incredible!
- Lightly spiced: The flavor of the ginger or the spices isn't too overwhelming, it’s just soothing and warm
- Simple to make: Only a few steps are needed!
- Naturally sweetened: Choose your preferred sweetener!
What Tea to Use?▼
I’m using black tea leaves to make this recipe. I chose this because honestly that’s what we used back in India! You could also use tea bags.
Tips for the Best Cup of Chai
- Find good quality spices for the most amount of fragrance and flavor.
- You require a good quality fine mesh sieve to ensure any bits of the brewed tea leaves are filtered from your serving.
- The milk only needs to come up to a simmer and not a boil. Keep stirring to ensure it doesn’t burn and keep a close eye to ensure it does not boil over.
- Double walled cups or a teapot can be helpful to keep the tea hot for a long time - especially if you drink slow.
Ingredients for Indian Tea
Time to go over the ingredients you’ll need to make the perfect cup of chai! We’ll see what spices are used for the chai masala, and the ingredients for the tea itself. Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD! You’ll see all of the ingredients with their quantities and the recipe instructions, and you can save the recipe for later! What’s also awesome about the recipe card is that you can scale the recipe based on how many cups of tea you’d like, and all the ingredient quantities are automatically adjusted! No math needed on your side!
For the Chai Masala
I recommend using whole spices here as freshly ground spices will be more aromatic and flavorful.
For the Chai
- Water: To boil the tea.
- Milk: I’m using whole milk in this recipe, but you can use any kind of milk you’d like. To make this dairy-free, use a plant-based milk.
- Black tea leaves
- Chai Masala: Made with the ingredients mentioned above.
- Ginger: Fresh ginger root here.
- Sweetener of choice
How to Make Indian Tea with Milk
For the Chai Masala
Take the whole spices and place in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind until broken down. You do not have grind it completely until it turns into a powder.
Alternatively, you can bundle the spices in a bunch in a kitchen towel and use a heavy pan or rolling pin to create the ground masala.
For the Chai
In a large saucepan, add water and tea leaves. Bring the water to a boil.
Add all of the chai masala. Let simmer for 30 seconds and then add the milk and minced ginger.
Mix well. If you are using a sweetener, add it now and adjust to taste. Continue to stir and heat the milk until it starts to steam.
Once the milk starts to simmer, immediately take the saucepan off the heat.
Pour the milk through a fine mesh sieve into your teapot or cups and serve hot with your favourite snacks.
is Chai Healthy?▼
Yes, it sure is! Black tea is loaded with health benefits! Here are some examples:
- Contains polyphenols which may help decrease the risk of chronic disease
- Flavonoids may improve heart health
- May reduce LDL cholesterol
- Good for the gut
- Assists in reducing blood pressure
For more details on the health benefits of black tea, check out this article by Healthline.
Additionally, the whole spices have a wide array of nutritional benefits! Cardamom, cloves, ginger and cinnamon are also high in antioxidants. Ginger assists in improving digestion, in improving your energy and immune system, and in reducing inflammation. Cinnamon is also excellent in helping to reduce cholesterol and it contains antibacterial properties to help you fight colds and maintain good health.
Basically, chai is literally a warm cup of health!
Can I add sugar to my Chai?▼
Yes you sure can! You can sweeten your chai however you’d like. You can sweeten it with granulated white sugar, but if you want to add even more health benefits to your chai, I would recommend a natural sweetener such as honey, cane sugar or jaggery if you have access to it.
You’ll notice in the video and in the photos that I didn’t sweeten my chai. This is because:
- I forgot to add the sugar.
- I realized I didn’t need it!
However, I’ve made chai before and also forgot to add the sugar, and found it very bitter. I didn’t need sugar here because I used whole milk to make the chai, which I find has a natural sweetness. However, if you’re making your chai with another type of milk, such as reduced fat milk or a plant-based milk, you may find your chai bitter as well, and you may want to sweeten it.
Is there caffeine in chai?▼
Yes, there is. Because we’re using black tea, there is caffeine there. A cup of chai has about 50 mg of caffeine, whereas a cup of brewed coffee can have about 80-170 mg of caffeine. Chai has a moderate amount of caffeine, but if you are extra sensitive to caffeine, perhaps avoid drinking it later in the day.
Can I use Milk Powder to make Chai?▼
You can substitute the milk with milk powder easily in this recipe. For every 1 Cup milk, use 1/4 Cup of milk powder. For this recipe, replace the liquid milk part with water and add the milk powder either directly in the sauce pan, or directly in your serving cups.
Make sure to stir well to ensure there are no lumps.
Serving Suggestions for Chai
Well, you quite literally can eat anything with chai! This Indian milk tea is typically served with breakfast. Here are some breakfasts that will be awesome with your warm cup of chai!
You can also have many snacks with chai, particularly fried snacks are often paired with chai. You may have heard Indians reference having chai with crispy snacks during the monsoon season. Admittedly, I’ve never actually done this myself, but I can see how this is so comforting, and I really should try that out if I’m ever back in Delhi during the monsoon season! Here are some classic snacks that would pair amazingly well with your masala tea!
- Potato-Stuffed Bread Pakora
- Aloo Patties - Potato Stuffed in Puff Pastry
- Paneer Patties - Indian Cottage Cheese in Puff Pastry
- Aloo Samosas
- Crispy Chicken Pakora
- Baked Paneer Jalfrezi Samosa
- Air Fryer Chicken Samosa
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