Chai Tea

Chai Tea
Chai is actually the term for tea, Chai Tea refers to Indian Spiced tea, more accuratly Masala Chai; masala is the Hindi word for spice and chai means tea.
In China the caracter for tea in the  Mandarin dialect is pronounced:"chá" .

So lage parts of the world refer to waht we call tea as Chai. But the basis of a Chai Tea or Indian Tea as we use here in the west and India is the adding of spice and or herbs to the tea and thus making a diffrent brew altogether.
One belive that Masala Chai was invented somewhere in the 19th century in India after the British began cultivating tea in India, to compensate for the inability to produce enough tea .
In India there is almost one Masala Chai recipe to each family, there is no right or correct chai tea.

There are however certain basic involved to make a Masala Chai:

1. Tea, black of any kind you like
2. Sweetener, white sugar is mostly used, although honey and molasses are frequent too.
3. Milk, or other such creamers.
4. Spice, most commonly used are cardemom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and peppercorn.

Te Chai can be made a wast array of ways but a typical one, is to add the spice and sweeteners and boil for a few minutes add the tea and milk, bring to a boil and steep for a few minutes before serving.

Green Cardemom Chai
Serves 2

1. 2 1/4 cups water
2. 2 cardamom pod, whole, split
3. 3/4 cup milk
4. 6 teaspoons sugar
5. 2 teaspoon Lemon Ginger Green tea

Bring water and milk to almost a boil. Add cardamom and steep 3 minutes, uncovered. Add tea. Stir lightly. Steep 2 minutes more, uncovered. Strain and enjoy.