Do you like tea? Do you have the habit of having a cup of tea the first thing in the morning? How would you like it if you have a special Masala tea? That would be great, right?
Making Masala tea is quite simple, but for some people, it may sound like rocket science! But all you need to whip up this tea is some simple ingredients and tools that already exist in your kitchen.
Want to know more about how to prepare Masala tea? Then read on!
Methods Of Making Masala Tea At Home:
There are two simple ways in which you can brew this tasty tea. While one involves the use of dry pre-prepared spice mix, another method is that of Bouquet Garni.
Before proceeding to make this variant of Masala Tea at home, you need to start from the basics, i.e., from the masala itself. The best thing about this spice mix is that you can store it in your kitchen cupboard for 6 months or even more than that. So, let’s get started from the first things first!
This pre-made spice mix is a great time saver for the early morning tea made in an absolute hurry. Interestingly, you can also make your selection of spices in making this mix. For example, if you love the tangy taste of bell peppercorns, increase their quantity to soothe your taste buds and so on.
Ingredients For Making Spice Mix For Masala Tea:
Prepare: 1 Cup of spice mix
- ½ cup of peppercorn
- ¼ cup of dried ginger powder
- ½ cup of nutmeg
- 20 pieces green cardamom
- 20 pieces cloves
- 3 inch stick of cinnamon
Optional Ingredients:
- ¼ cup Fennel Seeds
- ½ cup dried Basil Leaves
- ½ cup black cardamom
Method Of Making Spice Mix For Masala Tea:
- Mix all these ingredients and blend them finely in a dry grinder.
- Sieve this powder properly. You will find some chunks left in the mesh.
- Grind these chunks again to make a fine powder.
- Now, store this dry spice mix in an airtight container.
1. How To Make Masala Tea Using This Spice Mix:
Now that your dry chai masala is ready, it’s time to tickle your taste buds with fresh flavor of Masala tea made within 5 minutes. Pretty fast, isn’t it?
Ingredients Required:
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp loose tea or 2 tea bags
- ½ tsp chai masala mix
- 1 cup milk
- Sugar or any other sweetener, according to your taste
You can experiment with green tea or white tea to make masala tea. However, it will not account for the real authentic flavor.
Method Of Preparation:
- Pour the water in the pot to boil. Also, add the loose tea to it.
- To this boiling water, add the dried masala you prepared. Boil it on a medium flame.
- When it gets boiled, turn off the flame for a while and add milk and sugar (or sweetener of your choice) to the tea.
- Turn on the heat again and bring this tea to boil with occasional stirring.
- Turn off the flame and strain the tea into cups.
- Your creamy and delicious masala tea is ready!
2. How To Make Masala Tea At Home, The Bouquet Garni Style?
Well, this is another interesting way of making masala tea. It gives quite an authentic flavor due to the fresh spices being used in it every time. Follow this recipe that serves two people:
Ingredients Required:
- ½ tsp cardamom seeds
- 1 piece of 1 inch cinnamon bark
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup milk (Skim or whole, as per your choice)
- 2 tsp loose tea or 2 tea bags
- Honey, as a sweetener
- Cheese Cloth
Method Of Preparation:
- Take cinnamon, cardamom seeds, and cloves and tie to the cheesecloth with a thread to make Bouquet Garni.
- Boil water in a pot and add this Bouquet Garni to the water. Tie thread to the handle of the pot for removing it later.
- Boil this water on low flame for approx 15 minutes. Avoid too much of boiling as it may cause bitterness in the taste.
- Turn off the flame. Add loose tea and leave as such for 3 minutes to extract its flavor.
- Pull out the Bouquet Garni now.
- Strain this tea with a sieve.
- Add milk and honey or any other sweetener of your preference.
- Your masala tea with tan color is ready to consume.
- You can make it into iced tea as well by adding some crushed ice and vanilla/mint into it.
Simple Tips To Enhance The Taste Of Masala Tea:
- In both of the methods for making masala tea, you can add crushed ginger. It is especially beneficial in winter season.
- Always prefer taking premium tea leaves for better aroma of tea.
- You can prefer whole milk to augment the taste. But for health reasons, you can take skimmed milk or soy milk as well.
- In the case of sweetener, the options include sugar-free cubes, jaggery, molasses, or brown sugar. It’s simply your choice at the end!
- Avoid ready-made cardamom powder as it lacks the real aroma.
- For extracting more juice from ginger, heat it in the microwave.
- Always boil milk on low or medium flame as this prevents it from burning.
- Keep stirring the boiling tea to avoid formation of creamy layer on its surface.
- Avoid excess boiling of tea to prevent loss of its flavor.
- You can leave the last 1-2 sips as the spices tend to settle at the bottom of the cup, and you may not like it.
This is one of the tastiest and simplest beverages fit for any region and season. So make your cup of masala tea in a way that suits you. Ditch the regular tea bags and enjoy this tea. Also share your experiences and ideas with us!
