What’s better than sipping on a hot cup of chai in the morning or early evening, right? It is simply refreshing! But you know what’s even better? This masala chai recipe! Masala chai is made with a blend of spices that gives it its unique, distinct and enhanced flavor. If you’re a tea lover, make sure to try out my all-time favourite masala chai recipe!
Why will you like this Healthy Morning Masala Chai recipe?
It requires few ingredients: The essence of this tea is in its spices. All you need are some common spices, along with the basic tea ingredients and you’re good to go.
It is simple to make: Making this tea is very simple and easy and will hardly take you 10 minutes. You will need to make your tea as usual, but of course, adding in the mixture of spices is its essence.
It is refreshing to sip on: Well, this one goes without saying, doesn’t it? Sipping on a hot cup of tea early morning or in the evening after your day’s work, is always refreshing and soothing. The spices add the distinctive taste to this masala chai, making it unique.
Main Ingredients in this Recipe
The main ingredients of this recipe are its spices. The blend of spices is what makes masala tea different from regular tea. Spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and ginger are crushed to bring out its flavour and aroma and then boiled in water along with tea leaves to give it its unique and distinct taste.
Drinking masala chai is not just refreshing, but it is also good for the immunity, as the spices are rich in antioxidants and also have anti-inflammatory properties.
Healthy Morning Masala Chai
- 2 tsp tea leaves
- 2-3 cardamom pods
- 2-3 cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick (6 inches)
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 star anise
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 200 ml water
- 100 ml milk
- Honey to taste (optional)
Into a bowl, add in all the spices – the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and star anise, along with the coriander seeds and fennel seeds.
Transfer the spice mixture into a mortar and pestle and crush until coarse.
Into a sauce pan, add in 200 ml water and to it, add in the crushed spice mixture, along with the grated ginger.
Heat on high heat, until the mixture comes to a boil.
Add in 2 teaspoons of tea leaves and let it simmer for4 to 5 minutes, covered.
If you wish to have this masala chai with milk, then at this stage, add in 100 ml of milk and give it a mix. Let it simmer for another 2 minutes before turning off the heat.
If you do not wish to have this masala chai with milk, skip this step and move to step 7.
Strain into a cup and add in some honey to taste (optional) and give it a stir.
It is ready to consume, enjoy it hot.
Alternative Ingredient Substitutes:
Milk:
In this recipe, I have used regular cow’s milk. In case you wish to make this masala chai vegan or in case you are lactose intolerant, then you can substitute the milk with any other plant-based milk of your choice, like almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, rice milk, soy milk etc.
Sweetener:
In this recipe, I haven’t added any sweetener. But in case you wish to, you can add in any sweetener of your choice like honey, maple syrup, date syrup, jaggery powder etc.