| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 25 min |
| Prep: | 5 min |
| Inactive: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | 8 (1-cup) servings |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon fennel seed
- 6 green cardamom pods
- 12 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 (1/4-inch) piece ginger root, peeled and thinly sliced
- 6 black peppercorns
- 7 cups water
- 2 tablespoons Darjeeling tea
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine fennel seed, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, ginger root, peppercorns and water. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and steep for 10 minutes. Add the tea, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
- Strain mixture, discard spices and return the tea to the saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and milk. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 47 calorie |
| Total Fat | 1 grams |
| Saturated Fat | 0.6 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 9 grams |
| Protein | 1 grams |
Reviews
lovely: added 1 star anise, a bit more cardamon, less sugar and a bit of ground black pepper
Disappointingly weak. Needs more cardamom (smashed) and less water.
Great as iced tea. I replaced the milk with 1/3 c. evaporated milk, tripled the cardamon pods after slicing them to release the seeds, added a pinch of allspice and a bit of vanilla. YUM, so much better than you can get at the coffee shop.
I made changes:
1 I don’t like fennel seed/subsituted whole allspice
2 didn’t have whole cardomom…only had ground. Had to guess at how much to use using the ground version. Since most previous posters thought it was not strong enough on flavor I went for 1/4 tsp.
3 I had a vanilla bean on hand/threw that in too. Seemed like a good idea.
4 had anise seed but no star anise on hand//had to guess again at amount/ went with 1/4 tsp.
5 previous posters said it needed nutmeg so put in 1/8 tsp
1 I don’t like fennel seed/subsituted whole allspice
2 didn’t have whole cardomom…only had ground. Had to guess at how much to use using the ground version. Since most previous posters thought it was not strong enough on flavor I went for 1/4 tsp.
3 I had a vanilla bean on hand/threw that in too. Seemed like a good idea.
4 had anise seed but no star anise on hand//had to guess again at amount/ went with 1/4 tsp.
5 previous posters said it needed nutmeg so put in 1/8 tsp
sooo…..after all that the family (3 of us all gave the above version the same rating: good on the spice content but the tea flavor was too weak….need to double the amount of tea leaves next time. Will make it again though.
I agree with rosieposie4425 that this is a great base. I like my chai spicy, so I quadruple the ginger, up the cardamom by about 3 times, and double the cloves. I also add a few more peppercorns. I also agree with sunsetr that something’s missing. I had a chai with anise star over the weekend and thought that might be a good thing to try adding.
This recipe is a good base, but. I add extra brown sugar. Also, I use powdered ginger and skip the cardomom and fennel seed (since I haven’t yet added these items to my spice rack). I keep a whole pitcher of this in my fridge and warm a cup up as needed.
I like the recipe a heck of a lot, and I have made it many times. However, I get the sense, every time I make the recipe, that it needs a little something more – and I am not sure what! I have added simply more spices, but then the recipe is simply too spicey. Maybe this needs some nutmeg. Anyway, my friends adore this recipe, and they always love when I make this!
I like the recipe because it’s simple and the chai not too sweet! I made a bigger batch and store the extra in the fridge for later!
I agree with Clayton. It is a good start base. But if you are anything like me, I like a lot of flavor. You can tweak this recipe as you wish. I like mine a bit spicy, so I increase the peppercorns. I prefer to make my Chai Tea strong (by either adding more spices or decreasing the amount of water) so that when I add the milk it does not water it down. This is very much a “comfort” drink when you drink it hot. Or it can be refreshing, served over ice! Better than those popular coffee chains — and much cheaper too!
This recipe tastes great just the way it is and I’ve made it many times over the past couple of years. It’s nice to cuddle up in a blanket on the sofa with a nice hot cup of Kathleen’s Chai.