How to make a prefect cup of hot, comforting Chai aka Milk Tea…
Today’s post is just a depiction of how I make my tea. Coming to making the tea, the recipe is courtesy my HD. When we got married, I was a complete zero in cooking. I could not make a decent tea, which was something my HD couldn’t take. So the first lesson he taught me was how to make tea. Even though, I have now perfected it (so I say!!!) after almost 9 years of practicing still sometimes he feels that I have not reached its pinnacle I know, husbands are also hard to satisfy at times! I don’t mean to say HD is demanding, in fact, he is the most flexible man I have found in my life, but when it comes to his tea, no compromise!!! My tea is pretty strong, so if you are somebody who loves it more milky, you can reduce the quantity of tea. I am putting in a couple tips below, which may be helpful, I hope… 🙂
Now why didn’t I add the sugar in the beginning? I used to do that till very recently and wait for ages for the tea to start boiling, in the process my tea used to get too strong to actually get the taste of it. Recently, when I visited a family friend, I saw her adding sugar after the tea boiled. When I enquired, she said that she had seen in a video that sugar slows down the boiling process of water. And yes, it seemed to be true!!! Without the sugar, the milk with tea boils faster and you are able to control the strength of the tea… Interesting, isn’t it?
Updated January 9, 2019: While working on a post, I realized that this recipe needs some updates, so editing the recipe with all tips… 🙂
The perfect cuppa chai...
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 heaped tbsp milk powder refer notes
- A fat pinch of cardamom powder or 1 cardamom crushed
- A dash of dry ginger powder optional
- 1/2 tbsp tea powder
- 1 tbsp sugar to taste
Instructions
- Mix ingredients from water to dry ginger powder, if using, in your saucepan.
- Keep it on medium flame and as it starts becoming hot, add the tea powder.
- Once it starts boiling, check if it as per your required strength. If not, then keep it on low flame and continue boiling till the desired strength is reached.
- Switch off the flame and mix in the sugar.
- Now pour half into a glass and pour it back. This will ensure proper mixing.
- Finally, pour into your mug using a lifted sieve to get those bubbles on the top. Actually pouring it from a height gives it kind of a different flavor. I guess you have to try it to know it!!! 🙂
- Enjoy hot!
Notes
You can make the tea plain without any of the spices.
You can use tea bags, but it will not give you the extra strength. If you want lighter milk tea, one tea bag should be more than sufficient.
On a personal note, I prefer Eastea or Kannan Devan tea for preparation. Once you get used to the hang of drinking tea, each tea powder will have its difference. It's just like having Bru or Nescafe, though it takes time to be evident!
Wow..nice post Rafeeda.Most people take tea making for granted..I loved the way you wrote it here..Cheers on that hot cuppa.
thank u so much dhyuthi… yes, what u said is right… many of them take their tea preparation for granted and i'm not somebody like dat… it shows at home – my dad prefers my tea over my mom's, so when she's not hearing, he'l ask me to make it for him!!! 🙂
hmmm.. gud one, really inspirational post dear 🙂
thank u so much preeti… 🙂
this is so yum..Come and participate in my event- Mela/Carnival Food
thank u shweta… 🙂
wow nice preparation…
thank u dear… 🙂
For me also a coffee (filter coffee)in the morning and a tea in the evening has to be really good. No compromise.
I am not sure but you try next to al Maya lals, burdubai (near the museum) there is a shop called Krishna stores, he has all these kinds of stuffs. I normally get my cooker problems sorted out with him. Check out.
hey… thank u so much latha… i'm going to see if i'm able to catch this store… 🙂
Nice post dear 🙂
thank u shabbu… 🙂
I can't stay without tea/coffee in the morning and evening! I just have to have at least a cup! Interesting post!
http://www.rita-bose-cooking.com/
thank u so much rita… 🙂
Nice post dear…somebody wake me with a cup of coffe really that day is my best day…Like to have now
thank u saranya… actually i'm more of a tea person… 🙂
it is a comfort to see tea in a cup.
yeah i know… i always have tea in a cup… i feel lost having it in a glass… 🙂
I seldom take coffee or tea…but once awhile this would be my cuppa chai!!! 😉
yes, u can… 🙂
Love indian milk tea, you are tempting me to make one as normaly i always have black tea.
i guess u should just go ahead and make it finla… thank u for coming by… 🙂
wow..delicious and tempting .
Ongoing event:
Celebrate – Easter
in my blog.
thank u so much shama… 🙂
Wowwww… looks super tempting .. lovely clicks too 🙂
thank u divya…
I like my tea with more milk but my husband likes strong and with less milk…..Daily I make it in 2 different ways..:(
i know dipti how tedious it is making two different types…maybe u both should reach a consensus… 🙂
Nicely explained.
Loved the cartoon too.
Check the below link for a great giveaway:
http://rakshaskitchen.blogspot.com/2013/02/event-and-giveaway-announcement-only.html
thank u raksha for leaving your comments… will check up the event… 🙂
That sure is a perfect cup of chai. I can go for it right now….
thank u madhavi… 🙂
perfect tea is not easy – many take it for granted. perfect explanation
thank u so much divya… yes, i know, many do take it for granted… 🙂
i do not have that habit of drinking tea or coffe..but if i feel like to have something i prefer coffee..but this post make me to have a cup of tea..:)
tea is for my normal mood and coffee for my abnormal mood… thank u for coming by… 🙂
Really well written Rafeeda. I'm a tea drinker to the core 🙂 This is the way I make tea if I'm using Milk Powder although I use just half the amount of sugar or even less 🙂
thank u for your comments, priya… unfortunately, the sugar we receive here nowadays is not very "sugary" at all, where we used to add a tsp before, we have to add a tbsp now… 🙂
It is tea time for me here. Wish you could make it hot for me right now.
Oohhh…I wish I cud 2… 🙂
I would definitely want to try that cuppa tea…looks good 🙂
Shema
thank u so much shema… 🙂
My hubby comments even now when my mother in law makes tea and it’s not per his taste. I guess it is something with Mallu guys and tea 😉 Useful post Rafee 🙂
Haha… when that post had gone live, HD was a heavy chai drinker, but as he has aged (if he reads this, he will kill me! 😀 ) his tummy can no longer take it and has shifted to black and green tea for almost two years now… Thanks a lot Chitra, I am glad you find it useful… 🙂 I know many struggle with making a decent cup of tea and I am somehow proud of my tea… not being narcissist, but whoever has had, has always said it is great… 😀