Stovetop chai is how it is actually made in India, and it is worth the extra pan. Instead of steeping a bag in hot water, you simmer Twinings Dark Chai in a mix of milk and water with fresh whole spices, so the spices cook into the milk and the tea brews in the simmer rather than just sitting in poured water.
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Stovetop Masala Chai (The Real Way) recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/chai-tea/stovetop-masala-chai-the-real-way/
Crushed cardamom, black pepper, fresh ginger and a stick of cinnamon go into the cold milk and water, brought slowly up to a gentle simmer, never a hard boil or the milk catches, with the bags added once it is steaming. Six minutes of low simmer turns the pan a deep Coffee brown, then it is strained into glasses and sweetened with a little brown sugar.
You'll need
- 2 Twinings Dark Chai tea bags
- 200ml whole milk
- 200ml freshly drawn water
- 3 green cardamom pods, gently crushed
- 4 black peppercorns, gently crushed
- 1 thumb of fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced into 3 coins (about 20g)
- 1 cinnamon stick (about 4cm)
- 2 teaspoons of soft light brown sugar (1 per cup)
- 2 small warmed glass cups (about 150ml each)
- 1 small fine-mesh tea strainer
- 1 small heavy-based saucepan (about 16cm diameter)
Method
- Warm the two small glass cups by filling each with hot tap water for one minute, then pour the water away.
- Pour the 200ml of water and the 200ml of whole milk into the small heavy-based saucepan. Place over a medium heat.
- Add the 3 crushed cardamom pods, the 4 crushed black peppercorns, the 3 fresh ginger coins and the cinnamon stick straight into the cold milk and water.
- Bring the spiced milk and water slowly up to a soft simmer with small bubbles around the edge of the pan. Do not bring to a rolling boil, milk that boils too hard will catch on the base.
- When the small bubbles start at the rim, drop the 2 Twinings Dark Chai tea bags into the simmering liquid. The colour of the pan will turn rapidly from white to a pale tan, then deepen.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer the pan for six full minutes. Stir gently every 90 seconds with a wooden spoon to lift the spices from the base and stop the milk catching.
- After six minutes, the pan should be a deep coffee brown with a slick film of spice oil floating on top. Lift the 2 tea bags out of the pan with the back of a teaspoon. Do not press the bags, pressing forces tannin into the chai and turns the finish drying.
- Strain the finished chai through the small fine-mesh tea strainer into the two warmed glass cups, dividing the pan equally. Discard the strained ginger coins, cardamom shells, peppercorns and the cinnamon stick.
- Add one teaspoon of soft light brown sugar to each cup. Stir once with a long spoon until the sugar dissolves.
- Serve at once with a small plate of plain Biscuits or, for the proper roadside service, a piece of fresh white bread for dipping. The chai will hold its temperature in the glass for about eight minutes.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Twinings Dark Chai, 40 Tea Bags 80g
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