Ah yes, a chill is in the air and the Gray Blanket Cloud of Winter has rolled officially rolled over Seattle, where it will likely remain until May. Hooooraaaaaay.
But what’s the point of shaking your fist at the gloom when there’s nothing you can really do about it, short of dragging the Earth closer to the sun — which, I am told, by the way, would have catastrophic consequences?
On these blue winter days, I like to make a hot cup of chai and curl up by a window to do some reading. Because the one upside of drab winter days is that there is no shame in taking it easy and not even bothering to change out of your favorite cat pajamas for an entire 24 hours. People just understand.
And while I love a sweet Starbucks/coffeeshop chai just as much as the next person, making your own at home is super easy once you’ve got your arsenal of spices at the ready. And in the winter when gingerbread and fruitcakes and pies are getting churned out of nearly every kitchen, it’s likely you already have all the ingredients for a great hot chai.
Don’t use your fancy teas for chai. If you’ve got some cheap unflavored black tea, like English Breakfast, orange ceylon pekoe, or good ol’ Lipton, that’s what you want to use. After all, you’re going to dump a bunch of spices into it!
And let’s talk milk. Whole milk is best for that luxurious feel, but I also have made this with unsweetened almond milk a few times and been pleased with the result too. So, use whatever you like as long as it’s unflavored (unless you really want to find out what a hot chocolate soy masala chai would taste like, I don’t know your life).
This recipe is pretty mellow and mild so you can adjust everything to your liking. If you prefer your chai more intense, up the amount of cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon. If you prefer it spicy, add more black pepper, and so on and so forth. Happy lounging!
Basic Masala Chai
Yields: 4 mugfuls (like a normal mug, not your giant office caffeine depository)
Total Time: 30 minutes
2 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp green cardamom pods
3 two-inch sticks of cinnamon
1/2 tsp black peppercorns or ~7 generous grinds of your peppermill
half a quarter-sized medallion of peeled fresh ginger
~4 grates of nutmeg
6 tsp sugar
3 cups water
3 tsp plain black loose tea, like English Breakfast
2 cups milk (whole is best)
Crush the cloves, cardamom pods, and black peppercorns so that they’re broken up a bit. I do this with a mortar and pestle, but a meat mallet would work just as well too. Just beware of projectile spices!
In a saucepan, combine the water, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, black peppercorns, ginger, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a steady simmer. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the tea and stir to soak all the leaves. Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the milk and stir. Bring it back to a simmer and let it simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
Strain into your mugs, sweeten it some more if you’d like, and enjoy!
