Name: Tandoori Chai
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 inch ginger piece (peeled); 3 green cardamoms; 3/4 cup water; 3 teaspoons tea leaves; 2.5 cups milk (boiled); sugar (to taste); A small kullad or earthen ware pot

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Last updated on January 27th, 2020

Tandoori chai recipe is a unique chai with smoky flavors. Tandoori recipes like paneer tikka, roti, gobi tikka are very popular in India. This tandoori chai is a new addition that tastes wonderful with a unique flavor. You can easily make this chai at home without a tandoor. Try it out once and you will love it. Here is how to make perfect tandoori chai at home without a real tandoor.

Tandoor means clay oven which can stand very high temperatures. In India we have these really popular tandoori recipes that everyone loves.

Recently my friend from Pune sent me a video of making tandoori chai. It is prepared and served in a shop called chai la. She said I may find the preparation unique and interesting.

Indeed it was very interesting the way tandoori chai was made. A small empty earthen pot is heated in the tandoor and adrak chai was poured into it. The chai gets more brewed from the heat. It also takes the smoky flavor and turns out very delicious.

Ever since I saw the video I wanted to make tandoori chai at home. Finally I made it last week by using a small kullad for tandoori flavor as my friend suggested. It tasted so good and comforting for the weather with or assorted pakora platter of palak, paneer, cashew, cheese & onion pakoda.

You have to basically heat the earthen pot or kullad on stove top until it almost turns black. Then pour the prepared ginger or masala tea into it. Due to the heat in the pot, the tea will bubble and ooze out very fast while absorbing all the flavor of earthen pot. Remove the hot kullad, transfer into serving cups and serve tandoori chai immediately.

This Tandoori Chai Recipe Is

Delicious & strong

Uniquely flavored with smoky taste

Easy to try at home

Perfect drink for rainy evening

To make tandoori chai at home you can use any of your favorite tea recipe. I have made both masala tea and ginger tea in this method and they turned out delicious.

We will use a small kullad or earthen pot to mimic the flavor and taste of tandoor or clay oven. Use a small pot that fits on your stove top for working easily.You can use small kullad that comes with kulfi or curd if you have them. Do not use decorated ones just meant for serving though.

How To Make Tandoori Chai Without Tandoor.

Prepping the earthen pot for making tandoori chai

Take your earthen pot and clean it thoroughly. Rinse and completely wipe off the moisture.

Place it in your stove top and heat it.

heat it from all sides until it turns bit black and becomes very hot. Do this side by side as you make tea to keep the kullad hot.

Making Tandoori Chai.

Rinse and peel 1″inch ginger piece. Add into a mortar along with 3-4 cardamom pods. No need to remove the husk of the cardamom. Using a pestle crush them well.

Add this to 3/4 cup water and bring it to rolling boil.

Add 3-4 teaspoons dried tea leaves and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Next add 2.5 cups boiled milk and sugar to taste. Simmer for 4 more minutes again.

While the tea is simmering remove the earthen pot that is heated carefully from the flame.

Place it inside a deep large vessel so that the tea will not ooze and spill out.

Now strain the simmered tea.

And pour into the hot kullad placed inside a vessel from a height. It will bubble and ooze out very fast depending on how well you have heated the kullad.

Let it sit for a minute to absorb the smoky flavor. Remove the kullad carefully with a tong and transfer tea into serving glasses. Serve tandoori chai immediately.

I hope you will try this tandoori chai recipe and enjoy as much as we did. P