Monday, November 7, 2011

Chai From Scratch

Well today I am going to share my very secret chai recipe.  Please don't tell anyone.........TELL EVERYONE!! But please link back to me if you are going to share and let me know what you thought of my recipe.  
I started experimenting many years back as I found the cost of chai a little STEEP  LOL LOL  GET IT STEEP. (OK a little lame)......anyways,  here is my recipe:

Homemade Chai
1 box of loose black tea Ceylon or Orange Pekoe (about 4 or 5 cups)
6 to 8 cinnamon sticks
1 TBSP  whole cloves
2 TBSP whole black peppercorns
3 whole cardamon pods
1/4 cup star anise
12 whole dried orange slices
1 TBSP ginger powder
First step is to grind each of the spices individually (not the tea).   I have a glass jar on my blender as the spices will scratch a plastic jar blender.  I have also used a cheap coffee grinder for grinding my spices.   I usually start with the cinnamon.  I grind it down to, not as fine as cinnamon powder.



 Of course much of it turns to powder but there are still some small chunkys in there. Put in a large mixing bowl. 
Do each spice the same way and individually.






 Once you have all your spices in the mixing bowl, add the loose tea.  Blend with your hands until it is well mixed.  This is your dry tea blend.




To make a pot of chai, I usually use 1 TBSP per cup of water.
My recipe is for 4 mugs:
In a saucepan, put 4 cups of water with 4 TBSP of chai mix.



  Bring to a boil and let it gently boil for 5 minutes.  Turn heat down and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

  Strain the liquid chai.


 In a large mug, mix half the liquid chai with half milk and sweeten to taste.


 You can also use a heaping TBSP of sweetened condensed milk and liquid chai mixed with milk.  Experiment and see what is the best mix for you.  Hope you enjoy this chai as much as I have.

Have a Great Day
Oonga
Sisterkins

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http://www.thethriftyhome.comSomewhat Simple
A Crafty Soiree

4 comments:

  1. where do you buy your dried orange slices?

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  2. Hi, I actually have a large case that I use for crafts and chai. I used to buy my orange peel at the Asian supermarket and use that. It's not as pretty but it works great. Cheers!

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  3. I love chai tea. Thanks for posting this recipe. I never would have thought to add orange slices.

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