Serves: 1 cup or 3 shots
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
3 - 4 Zameen
cardamom pods
1 cup of milk (I like my cardamom chai creamy, so I use full-fat organic milk)
1 cup of water
2 tsp of sugar or honey
2 - 3 tsp of black tea
Instructions
Take the seeds out of the cardamom pods and crush them until you have a coarse cardamom powder - set it aside.
Boil a cup of water in a saucepan.
Once the water is boiling, add black chai (tea) and cardamom powder.
Continue to let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
OPTIONAL: Mummy’s tip to speed up the process. → Heat the milk in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Add milk to the boiling mixture and continue simmering at reduced heat.
Rushi’s tip: My rule of thumb for khadak (strong) is to keep simmering the mixture until right before it almost boils over, at which point I take it off the burner. Put it back on the burner and repeat 2 more times.
When you see a dark brown film on the top, your chai is ready. Most folks don’t eat the film.
Strain the chai using a cocktail sieve.
Enjoy and serve with my elchee shortbread cookies.
Rushi’s Varta (Story)
I love chai in all forms! There are many different ways Indians drink chai. My appreciation for chai comes from working in a Gujarati village. There I connected with villagers by having chai shots often served in a saucer, a natural way of cooling down chai. In my village, they serve chai extra sweet, extra milky- because they use water buffalo milk - extra strong to keep folks alert. I hope you enjoy my recipe above. Feel free to experiment and modify it to fit your palate. If you like this recipe, please take a picture of your creation and tag us on Instagram @zameenco.