Chai at its Best!

We have a friend ( Ranga)who is famous for his tea making skills and whenever we go to his place, we would definitely get a cup each:)
And my tea making skills are just average to just barely make an edible tea. So when Ranga came over to our place today, we requested him to make his tea and I got a chance to learn his way of making it
Interestingly he also knew the reason behind it so the 'making of chai' steps will also include that.

Making of Chai

1. Depending on the kind of milk you use, this is the proportion
Full Fat Milk - 40% Milk, 60% Water
2% Milk - 50% milk, 50% Water
Low fat - 60% Milk, 40% Water
2. Crush Cardomom, Cloves and also a few pieces of ginger.

3. Boil Water and the crushed cardomom, cloves and ginger in high heat. (Dont use too much of cardomom or cloves since they have overpowering features unlike the ginger. If you have tulsi, that also makes a fine addition in small portions)

4. Once the water boils add the Tea powder after keeping the heat to a sim. The number of cups = the number of spoons of tea powder (light leaf teas might warrant some extra)
Reason : If you put the tea powder in the water and then boil it, then the longer the tea powder boils, the more bitter it becomes.
So put the tea powder after the water starts boiling.

5. Add Sugar once the water boils. 2 teaspoon of sugar for one cup.(this gives you a sweet cup of tea but not sugary)
Reason : If you add sugar before the water boils, it will elevate the boiling point of water and thus the water takes longer time to boil(alternate is to add sugar after you pour the tea into the mug).


6. Warm the milk in the microwave for a minute or so.
Reason : When you pour warm milk, the whole mixture of milk, tea and water comes to a boil faster than when you pour cold milk. (It also prevents the tea leaves from boiling longer and hence making the tea bitter.)


7. Once the tea boils after adding milk, you can switch off the heat and serve it hot after passing it through a filter.

Well, the outcome of this was a real good cup of tea which we thoroughly enjoyed with home made bread made by Sree:)

Thanks Ranga:)