Most People Make Chai Wrong — My Father's Old Tricks for Real Masala Chai

Beta, a teabag drowned in hot milk is not chai - it's tea-flavoured milk. Real chai is boiled, with spices crushed fresh. Here are 7 old tricks for thick, fragrant masala chai, the way my father's mother made it three times a day. My mother's Indonesian kitchen too:    / @cooktheindonesianway   THE 7 TRICKS (written out so you can keep them) - 1. Chai is BOILED, not steeped. Strong black loose tea + spices boiled hard in water until dark and strong - THEN the milk. A teabag can only give you a shadow. 2. Crush the spices FRESH - cardamom, cinnamon, clove, pepper, crushed just before they go in, not an old grey "chai masala" tin. Fresh crushing bursts the oils that fill the house. 3. Don't be shy with GINGER - a thumb, crushed (not sliced) so it bleeds its heat in. More in the cold or when someone's unwell. 4. Milk goes in AFTER the tea has boiled strong in water. Milk too early and the tea can never get strong. 5. Let it RISE, settle, and rise again - 2-3 times. Each rise thickens it and marries milk, tea and spice into one creamy body. 6. Sugar in the POT, not the cup - it melts through and rounds the chai. And a small strong glass, not a big weak mug. 7. Keep a jar of fresh-crushed whole spices (your khada masala) sealed by the stove. Then it's a spoon + fresh ginger + 3 minutes every morning. Safety: chai climbs and boils over in one second - don't walk away, and keep the handle turned in from children. CHAPTERS - (adjust to final render; keep 0:00 first) 0:00 That's not chai, it's tea-flavoured milk 1:18 A quick word (my father's book is coming) 1:51 Trick 1 - Chai is boiled, not steeped 2:26 Trick 2 - Crush the spices fresh 3:03 Trick 3 - Don't be shy with ginger 3:33 Trick 4 - Milk goes in after 4:04 Trick 5 - Let it rise, settle, rise 4:42 Trick 6 - Sugar in the pot 5:10 Trick 7 - Keep a fresh-crushed spice jar 5:44 The honest words + a safety word 6:34 Who profits from the chai latte 7:35 One jar, a lifetime of chai 7:57 Your turn - change just two things Tell me your region - how does your house make chai? More ginger, more cardamom, a little fennel, a secret? Subscribe - a new old-way recipe every week. Cook the Indian Way. #Chai #MasalaChai #IndianChai #ChaiRecipe #IndianFood #IndianCooking #HowToMakeChai #HomeCooking #OldFashionedCooking #FacelessCooking