Good green tea with strong Indian spices such as Cardamom, Cloves Coriander, Cumin Seed, Sweet cumin seeds, Curry leaves, Lemon Grass. Especially enticing with milk.
Ingredients:
Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula, and Uva, Sri Lanka green gunpowder (cannon style) tea, Cardamom, Cloves, Coriander, Cumin Seed, Sweet cumin seeds, Curry leaves, Lemon Grass, Rampe leaves
Information: Chai is so prevalent in India and Sri Lanka that it could be called the “National drink“. It is very common to see the “tea wadis” serving their chai to the walk-by street traffic. In North America we have the coffee carts; in the sub continent and Sri Lanka you have the “wadis“. Paint the following picture in your mind: the tea wadis cart has that “well used” look (read – bashed, dented), quite often with a charcoal fire going keeping the water boiling so steam and smoke are rising, an old evaporated milk can full of sugar, another bashed and dented can with the masala chai spices, an eclectic collection of semi -clean mugs and glasses and a wizened chai expert deftly pouring back and forth from great heights, tea with spices and milk, combining the two ingredients. Once combined it is normal to add a fantastic amount of sugar for that real chai experience.
Chai is brewed with milk and a mixture of spices. Each recipe can be different depending upon the spices used. Indian spiced chai is often referred to as Masala Chai. The word “chai” literally means tea (different languages use various forms of this word – for example Portuguese call it “cha“, Hindus call it chai, and in Chinese the sound of the symbol for tea sounds very much like cha.) and “masala” is the word for the mixture of the various spices – hence Masala Chai.
Numerous medical journals laud the health benefits of green tea. Top quality high grown green teas ” the type of base tea in this chai (and for that matter ” black tea as well) contain a significant number of polyphenols which are antioxidants, elements known to inhibit various types of cancers. Additionally recent research is also seeing a positive correlation between the consumption of tea and the lower incidence of heart disease. Another added benefit of chai is that the chai is prepared with milk ” a good source calcium and other essential nutrients. Green Tea Chai ” the drink of health!
[Turn our bag of Chai upside down a few times. The reason is that during transit the spices can settle at the bottom of the bag]
Hot tea brewing method: As with all top quality teas, scoop 2–4 teaspoons of tea into the teapot (make the chai a bit stronger than you would normally make tea). Pour in boiling water that has been freshly drawn (previously boiled water has lost its oxygen and therefore tends to be flat tasting), steep for 2–4 minutes (to taste), stir (virtually all the leaves will sink), pour into your cup, add lots of milk, and sugar to taste. Alternatively brew the tea in hot milk, takes a bit more effort but it tastes great!
Iced tea brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 6 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold milk. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold milk. Garnish and sweeten to taste.
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