A cup of chai

[asakiyume]

I told xjenavivex we should have a cup of chai today. It occurs to me that many of you might like one too. Tea is such a balm! I'm making this tea the way Jaspreet Kindra showed me when she visited. Jaspreet Kindra is one of my real-life heros--she's done world-class reporting... and she makes an excellent cup of chai.


First, peel a small piece of ginger, and then grate it (actually, Jaspreet grinds hers or pounds it, I think--but I have a grater, so that's what I used)


Then crack some cardamom seeds


Then smash some cinnamon.¹ I have a tiny mortar and pestle, made for mashing baby food, but currently it's holding leftovers in the fridge, so I smashed this cinnamon with a jar of honey--which you will see later in this post.


As Jaspreet says, you can add whatever spices suit you. This blend reminds me of what I had the first time I ever had chai--when I thought the person offering it to me was mispronouncing the Japanese word "cha" (this was many years ago)--so this is what I make. But she says she sometimes puts in fennel seeds, or you could put in star anise--up to you.

So now add the water. Wait for it to boil.


When it does boil, add the milk. Stir constantly. You want it to get to that nice, thick stage, but not to boil over.



When it reaches that stage, add the tea. Jaspreet gave me permission to use plain old teabag tea, so I'm passing that along to you. I put in two teabags, but on the Internet we can all share.



Turn off the heat and stir it around until it's milky tea color. Now you're ready to strain it into a teacup or, in my case, a mug. Jaspreet says she's unusual in liking to drink hers unsweetened. I do like mine a little sweet, but you can make it as sweet or as unsweet as you want. I added a couple of teaspoons of honey--from the jar that smashed the cinnamon.


And here it is, in a mug from the Hot Chocolate Run, which I ran for the first time this past weekend. I'm trying to do things that are hard and take a lot of work, trying to stick with them. Running, for me, is definitely one. I was happy to complete this run in what for me was a pretty good time (though a 20-something-year-old with a severe hangover can run it equally fast--ahh, youth!) It attracts 5,000 runners! And it's for a good cause: a shelter for women fleeing domestic violence, and efforts to end domestic violence.



Enjoy!

¹As sovay will know, this is actually cassia. But it goes by the name of cinnamon, and it's what I have, and Jaspreet approved it.

Comments

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

I'm a huge fan of cardomom chai courtesy of my south Indian neighbour! :o)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I love it too!

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

I have never had chai tea because I assumed that, like almost everything else, it had sugar in it. Thanks for the recipe.

I didn't have a chai tea this morning, but I had a Tazo Zen tea. Does that count?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Definitely counts!

And yeah, you can make this absolutely without sweetener, and it's still delicious.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

I am deep into my chai. You are such an amazing, beautiful person. Thank you for your love and care. I needed this today. Also, I have never seen this done before. Very, very cool!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Me too--it's a pleasure to share this with you.

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this post. It is so wholesome and nourishing.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for stopping by--having friends to share it with makes all the difference.

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

Oh, lovely! I'll confess that I buy ready-made chai from Tesco*... I should try this recipe sometime. :) Do you like masala chai?

*and I shall have a cup now! :D

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Tea for one and all! Yes, I love masala chai!

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I love the photo!

Wishing you much warm chai, and the fellowship that goes with it.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Same-same! Been thinking of you.

If you click under the link, you'll find other photos of the process.

[heliopausa.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Just right for winter weather, too. :)
(I was always very taken by the description of the drink that Jadis gave Edmund in Narnia: "It was something he had never tasted before, very sweet and foamy and creamy, and it warmed him right down to his toes.")

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's a very warming and very delicious description--and like so many of C.S. Lewis's food-and-drink descriptions, makes me want to go drink something warm and thick.

Homemade chai is thinner than the concoctions you get at someplace like Starbucks, but still lovely and milky.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds/looks delicious. Perfect for winter!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It's delicious, and the process of making it makes it feel even more special.

[oiktirmos.livejournal.com]

I was vaguely remembering you owned a cup that said ‘writer’ so I clicked on your writers tag and Isatou Ceesay came up; I clicked five seconds after having watched a video of her weaving a plastic bag into a purse.
Chai looks to be very healthful.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It probably is healthful! Ginger is good for you.

The sights you're seeing online are like a game of dominos, with like connected to like.

[oiktirmos.livejournal.com]

It reminds me of my favorite lines from Northern Exposure.
Joel: Ed, are you hallucinating?
Ed: Oh, yeah, but not right now.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Haha, perfect.

[purplefigtree.livejournal.com]

That looks really good, thank you for sharing! I missed chai.

Congrats on your run! I saw a post I don't remember where where runners were talking about what they think about while they run. Mostly it was "wow this is hard. ow. keep going." That's true to my experience with running. Every step was hard.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yes, I heard that about the thoughts of runners, and it certainly matches what I think!

And thanks for the congratulations. I'm going to keep plugging away at it.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the run! I'm a big fan of running, but I must admit I'm not a fan of hard work...

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

So running doesn't feel like hard work to you? I'm envious! I wish it didn't feel so hard to me (though then I'd have to do something else to practice doing hard things...)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

For the most part, it doesn't feel hard, but that's largely because of the way I train. Most beginners, I find, and most people who think they can't run, basically just try to run too hard. I do most of my running at my endurance pace, the pace at which I feel I could run for hours at. When I started out, this pace was very slow, but it gradually got faster and faster. To improve your endurance pace, the best way is to run short intervals at a faster pace, but you only need to do relatively small amounts of this to keep your speed improving.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Did you do the thing of running short intervals faster to improve your pace? How long were your short intervals? Forgive me for grilling you; I know I can look up "interval training" and find out details--I have heard of interval training--but I'm curious because you're someone who's actually started out slow and gotten faster.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I don't time it exactly, but it's usually only for a few minutes at a time. On my typical 7 km lunchtime run, there are three short uphill bits (maybe only three minutes each) and a long flat section at the end where I'll really push it. So, maybe four bursts of 3-5 minutes maximum. Of course, sometimes I get it wrong and blow my energy too early, and then it falls like one long 20 minute interval...

[wuweibaby.livejournal.com]

Good for you on the run!

I would have to buy an ingredient or two. I've never made homemade chai.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Sometime when you're feeling like a treat.

Then again, a little cocoa and hot milk and hot water make another delicious treat, so...

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Chai is sooooo very good, and homemade is such a pleasure to prepare and drink. The first time I ever had chai, though, was not the spiced Indian variety. It is a common beverage served in Kenya where I visited. It is very sweet, milky-thick tea. Super tasty. :D I believe I've told you that before. Maybe. But I love the spiced version and it is what I make for myself if in the mood for chai.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I do remember! I think it came up maybe when we were talking about the deliciousness of sweetened condensed milk?

All forms of chai are wonderful. Actually, all forms of milky drink are pretty wonderful.