Hoje apetecia-me... CHAI

MASALA CHAI

(Serving five to seven)

Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 assam tea bags, ( or 3 teaspoon of loose assam tea)
• 3 inches piece of ginger, peeled and crushed or grated,
• 1 or 1 and a half stick of cinnamon, loosely crushed,
• 1 flat tablespoon of black peppercorns (crushed),
• 1 inch of natural vanilla stick or 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence, (optional)
• 6 or 7 sticks of cloves,
• 5 pods of green Cardamom (crushed),
• 2 whole star anise,
• 1 full teaspoon fennel seeds,
• 1 full teaspoon aniseed,
• a half teaspoon of ground nutmeg brings in a warm, caribbean flavour,
• 3 or 4 cups of soy milk or cow's milk (Mooji uses soy),
• brown sugar or honey to taste,
• 3 cups of water.

Place all dry ingredients, except the assam tea, in a sealed container and shake well to blend. Leave for a few hours or overnight to 'mature'.

Bring water to boil. Add the assam tea and boil for 5 minutes. Add masala chai blend from container and boil for 15 minutes then turn down flame and simmer for another 15 minutes. Now add milk of choice and bring again to the boil, watching carefully to ensure chai does not boil over by reducing heat quickly just before it does. Repeat 2 or 3 times. This process 'thickens' the chai and gives a rich and creamy taste. (This is not necessary if you’re using full cream milk or buffalo milk!). Sweeten with brown sugar or honey to taste. Strain tea and serve hot.


(www.mooji.org)