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This recipe is from the January issue of the free e-magazine, The Vegan Culinary Experience. In this recipe, Chef Jason Wyrick uses the whole spices ... fennel seed, ginger root, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and cardamom pods ... to offer the purest of flavors ...
Black Chai Masala Tea Serves: 4
Time to Prepare: 20 minutes Ingredients 1 tbsp. fennel seed
1 small piece of ginger root, peeled and thinly sliced
6 black cardamom pods (green pods are an acceptable substitute)
6 black peppercorns
12 whole cloves
2 ½ cups water
1 cinnamon stick (about 6” long)
2 tbsp. Darjeeling (black) tea
2 tbsp. sweet agave nectar
2 cups of soy creamer Instructions In a large tea ball, combine fennel seed, cardamom, cloves, and peppercorns.
Peel the ginger.
Slice the ginger thinly.
Add this to the water along with the sliced ginger and cinnamon sticks.
Boil for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and steep for 10 minutes, although the longer you let it sit, the better it gets. Add the tea, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
Strain mixture, discard spices and return the tea to the saucepan.
Stir in the sweet agave nectar and soy creamer. Kitchen Equipment Small Knife
Cutting Board
Tea Pot or Medium Sized Pot
Large Tea Ball
Measuring Cup
Measuring Spoon
Spoon to stir everything together Presentation Serve this in about an 8 oz. cup. It’s large enough that you won’t skimp on the chai, but not so large that you end up serving too much chai (too much chai can be overwhelming.) I like a light colored cup with flared edges or a colored glass, again with flared edges. Time Management The longer the spices brew, the better, so if you have time, allow the spices to sit for an hour or two before adding in the black tea. The black tea is the ingredient in this drink that shouldn’t be brewed any longer than for what the recipes calls. Complementary Food and Drinks Indian food, of course! A good suggestion is to serve this with a mild korma or with veggies (eggplant is a good choice) in a rich tomato sauce. Avoid spicy foods with this if you don’t like a lot of heat as the chai tea is spicy and will thus make spicy foods even spicier! Where to Shop All of these ingredients are fairly common. However, I suggest going to a store with a good bulk spice section like Sprouts or Wild Oats. That way, you can get just the right amount of the spices without having to pay exorbitant prices. The only spice you may have trouble finding is the black cardamom pods. Check out an Indian market for those. If you can’t find the, green pods are acceptable. You should also be able to find loose leaf Darjeeling tea there, although if you can’t, any black tea will do. How It Works Like many Indian foods, this one is full of small amounts of lots of spices. This combination creates a very complex tea, but because small amounts of everything are used, no one spice is stands out over the others. The pepper and the ginger are what create the spiciness in the chai while the cloves, fennel, and cardamom give it its strong aromatic quality. Oddly enough, because the spices in this tea are so strong, the cinnamon serves to mellow it out! Note that the spices are boiled first to infuse the tea with their intense flavor and to keep infusing it as the tea steeps. The black tea is added at the end because if it cooks too long, it gets bitter. Chef’s Notes
I used to drink chai tea from a package, but now I can’t. Be warned. If you make this fresh, you won’t want to go back. It’s like the difference between freshly ground black pepper and the cardboard tasting pepper from a can. Nutritional Facts (individual servings in parentheses, does not include any options) Calories 582 (145.5)
Calories from Fat 266 (72)
Fat 32.0g (8.0g)
Total Carbohydrates 73.5g (18.4g)
Dietary Fiber 2.0g (0.5g)
Sugars 51.2g (12.8g)
Protein 0.0g (0.0g)
Salt 5.7mg (1.4mg) Vitamin A 1% (0.3%)
Vitamin B6 5% (1.3%)
Vitamin C 17% (4.3%)
Calcium 22% (5.5%)
Iron 31% (7.8%)
Thiamin 2% (0.5%)
Riboflavin 5% (1.3%)
Niacin 7% (1.8%)
Folate 2% (0.5%)
Phosphorous 5% (1.3%)
Potassium 11% (2.8%)
Zinc 5% (1.3%)
Magnesium 16% (4%)
Copper 8% (2%) Interesting Facts In Ethiopia, chai is called shai and in Mandarin, it is cha with the accent rising.
“Chai wallahs” are chai street vendors very common throughout India.
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