Masala chai- make the most delicious and best masala chai or tea at your home in 15 mins flat wit this easy recipe. Masala tea is India’s most favorite winter beverage. It is not only delicious but all the spices keeps you warm and soothes you greatly. One of the best beverage to serve with evening snacks or breakfast. Here is how to make best masala tea from scratch at home.
Masala tea meaning spiced tea is the favorite winter beverage among most Indians. Even coffee freaks like me crave for a strong cup of masala chai when it is cold or pouring outside.
Tea is the preferred morning and evening drink just like coffee for many Indians. Indian also prefer tea with breakfast or with evening snacks like butter cake, crispy corn, baby corn fritters, paneer pakora, palak pakora, cutlet, sabudana vada, hara bahar kabab etc
Indian tea recipe comes in many variations. Regular chai, masala chai, ginger cardamom chai, vanilla chai, cutting chai are a few to name. I personally like Indian masala tea anytime.
Masala is a very broad term used in India. It is used for describing curries and anything that is spiced. Here we use whole spices to flavor this tea. So masala chai means tea flavored with whole spices.
Whenever I make tea it is either this masala tea or adrak chai or sometimes I make chocolate tea too. I love to have my tea flavored rather than plain 🙂
Although coffee is my morning beverage always, on days when I make spicy evening snack like sabudana vada, onion pakoda, chili bajji, samosa, bhujia, roasted makana we prefer strong cuppa chai.
To experience a real good Indian masala chai you should resort to small vendors known as chaiwallah. Though all Indian restaurants serve masala chai only few get it right.
Masala tea is really one of a kind drink with the perfect balance of spices, sweetness and flavor. The recipe I am sharing here is really a good one and comes close to the ones served in small shops or good restaurants.
This Masala Tea Recipe Is
Flavorful & delicious
Soothing & perfect for unwinding
Tastes like the ones from small tea shops
Authentic Indian masala chai recipe
Gluten free & can be made vegan by using dairy free milk
There are two ways to make masala chai. If you want to enjoy masala tea on a regular basis making your won masala chai powder is a good idea. If you are occasional tea drinker then making masala tea with whole spices is more suitable.
Here I am sharing making masala chai from scratch but I have shared a recipe for making your masala tea powder earlier.
This is a strong tea recipe as I prefer it that way. The ratio of milk and water is purely personal preference. I use 30:70 of milk and water. I use around 1 teaspoon tea leaves for a cup.
The quantity of tea leaves depends on how strong it is. The brand of tea is very important to get best masala tea I prefer to use organic tea leaves or granules over tea powder from stores. If you can source tea leaves from ooty it is the best.
What Is Masala Chai Made Of ?
To make masala chai recipe with whole spices you can use cloves, cardamom, dried ginger, cinnamon and peppers. You can omit any spice that you don’t prefer. Just pound the spices in a mortar and pestle and use it in the recipe.
If you have homemade masala tea powder you can use it place of whole spices. Any good quality store bought masala tea powder like Everest can also be used. Masala tea comes in many flavors. This masala tea recipe is similar to the masala tea in south Indian restaurants.
Is Masala Tea The Same As Chai Tea?
First of all chai means tea in India. So chai tea literally means “tea tea”. Having said that plain chai is the oneyou make by brewing tea leaves in water, with or without milk whereas masala chai or tea is the one where chai spice powder or whole spies are used.
How To Make Masala Chai
If you are using whole spices to make masala tea pound them well in a mortar and pestle.
Bring 1 3/4 cup water to a boil. Add pounded spices or tea masala powder and bring to a boil again.
Add tea leaves and boil for 2-3 minutes. For a stronger cuppa boil for 3 minutes.
Add milk.
and simmer for a minute.
Strain, add sugar, mix well. Serve masala tea immediately with breakfast or snacks. You can serve masala chai with veg puffs, veg rolls, cutlets etc.
How To Make Vegan Masala Chai?
To make this masala tea vegan just swipe dairy milk with almond or soy milk. As with any non dairy milk, do not boil it. Just simmer gently after adding to brewed tea.
Tips For Making Best Masala Chai
Adjust the quantity of whole spices as per taste.
if you don’t prefer the taste of certain spice you can omit it
The taste of your tea depends greatly on the quality of tea leaves.
For stronger tea brew for more minutes and lighter tea simmer for just few minutes
If you like milky tea add more milk
You can double the recipe.
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I hope you will try this recipe and enjoy as much as we did. P
Masala Chai Recipe
Masala Chai (Masala Tea)
1 CUP = 250 ml
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 teaspoons tea leaves
- Sugar
For chai Masala
- 3/4 teaspoon tea masala powder OR use the below mentioned whole spices
- 2 cloves
- 2 cardamoms
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
- 4-6 black peppercorns
Instructions
- If you are using whole spices to make masala tea pound them well in a mortar and pestle.
- Bring 1 3/4 cup water to a boil. Add pounded spices or tea masala powder and bring to a boil again.
- Add tea leaves and boil for 2-3 minutes. For a stronger cuppa boil for 3 minutes.
- Add milk and simmer for a minute.
- Strain, add sugar, mix well. Serve masala tea immediately with breakfast or snacks.
Ambicka says
Nice recipe for masala tea. Can I use three roses tea powder to make this chai?
Reshma says
Can the water to milk proportion be changed in this masala chai harini? I prefer my tea more milky.
Devaki says
Awesome photos. I always see your posts over and over to drool at your pics 🙂 Masala tea looks very tempting. I tried your gobi paratha recipe yesterday and we had a wonderful breakfast.