INDIAN MASALA TEA

        

         Tea is a wonderful beverage in the Indian subcontinent. We do have a lot of avatars of tea, a few to name are black tea, regular tea with milk, masala tea, chocolate tea, herbal tea, green tea, lemon tea, cardamom tea, ginger tea..... the list is endless!! Masala tea is an Indian tea brewed with a lot of Indian spices, sugar and milk.

         I'm very particular about my coffee and so i would never ever choose coffee during travels. Tea remains the safest bet as it can never go wrong! How great is it to sip away teas (from tea vendors) in your train berths stretching up yourself at the mid of night when everyone else is curled up in their blankets? I guess, most of us would have experienced this. Apart from travels, they rescue us from the drowsy winter mornings too. As winter is all set to start, i wanted to post this.

   

Makes 4 cups

INGREDIENTS

Water - 1 & 1/4 cup

Ginger (washed and peeled) - 1/2 inch

Cinnamon - 1 stick

Cloves - 3 

Pepper pods - 10 to 12 pods

Cardamom (shelled) - 7 to 8

Nutmeg powder - a generous pinch

Loose Black tea - 3 & 1/2 heaped teaspoons 

Bay leaves - 1 (optional)

Lemon grass (chopped) - 2 stalks (optional)

Star Anise (whole) - 1 no. (optional)

Milk (preferably full cream)  - 3 cups 

Sugar/ jaggery/ Honey - as required

METHOD

1. Crush together ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper pods, cardamom and star anise in a mortar or a food processor. (Chop the ginger into pieces for easy crushing).

2. Bring water to a rolling boil and add the crushed paste to it.
3. To it, add nutmeg powder, tea leaves, bay leaves and lemon grass. Let it boil for about 5 minutes.
4. Strain the decoction.

5. Blend it with freshly boiled hot milk and sweeten it with sugar or jaggery. Serve hot with biscuits or pakoras. 

TIPS

1. Boiling milk with the masala decoction may cause curdling so it is wise to boil them separately and then blend together.
2. Fennel seeds and dry basil can also be added to this masala chai. They are sure to add up more flavour.
3. Feel free to add creamer if you prefer a creamy version of the tea.