How to Make Chai Tea at Home

Chai tea is the go to drink for every Indian. We don’t call it chai tea though, since chai means tea! Since chai has gained popularity in the western world, it is called Chai tea; it means tea tea. I think making chai is an art, with it’s many variations to experiment with. I am usually the designated chai maker of my household and our friends group. We drink chai at anytime and with anything. Featured in the photo below is Chai with English breakfast for Easter. The cup id half full I know, because it was delicious, I couldn’t wait to take a photo!

How to Make Chai Tea

It is very easy to make chai tea at home. All you need is a saucepan and a strainer (only if you are using loose tea powder or leaf) in terms of an equipment. We will look at making a simple tea first, then you can add on to it in terms of flavors.

Ingredients

1. Teabags -2
2. Sugar -2 teaspoons
3. Cardamom-2pods
4. Water -1/2 cup
5. Milk-1/2 cup

Let’s make it now

1. Place 1/2 cup of water on stove top and add the cardamom as soon as you see bubbles in the water
2. let it boil for a minute or two
3. once the water start boiling add tea bags/leaves/or powder. I like my tea strong, that’s why I use 2 bags. If you like a weak or light tea, use only one bag.
4. Add sugar
5. You can see the water changing color and getting darker. let it boil for 1-2 minutes based on how strong you want the chai tea.
6. Pour the half cup of milk to tea and wait till it start to raise.
7. once you see the tea raising up to the top, turn off the flame. If it is an electric stove take it off the burner since we don’t want it to spill. Give it a good stir using a spoon.
8. Strain using the strainer in to a cup, if you have used leaves and or if you want to remove the cardamom pods.
9. Let it cool down a bit or till it is your desirable temperature. I personally don’t like cold tea, so I drink it straight away.
10. Enjoy your home made chai tea.

Variations of Chai

Masala Tea: Just add the spices you like, example cinnamon, star anise, cloves along with the cardamom. Follow the rest of the steps and you have Masala tea.

Cardamom tea/ Elai Tea: increase the number of cardamom to 4-5 and then you get really cardamom flavored tea.

Plain basic tea: If you skip the part of adding the cardamom and proceed with other steps you have plain tea.

I hope this will inspire you to make some lovely chai and enjoy it with company. Whether it is your own company or nature such as your favorite spot in the garden, or a dear friend. I love the combination of rain and chai, nothing beats it. Hope you have a great tea. If you end up making it like this, let me know in the comments below.

To find out Health benefits of chai tea click here

To read my other articles, which are not related to food at all, but may act as a good chai time read click here