How to Make Doodh Patti Masala Chai
What is chai?
Let’s start with what chai is NOT. It is not steeped tea with splash of milk (including evaporated!), cream, soy, or almond nonsense. It is not whatever syrupy drink Starbucks mislabeled. Chai doesn’t come from a syrup! And “dirty chais” are indeed dirty because stealing the name of a desirably decadent drink and adding espresso is bastardization and blasphemy at its finest!
Chai is made from tea and milk.
Traditionally, dhoodh patti (literally, milk leaves) is made by cooking the tea leaves in milk and simmering until an efficient level of extraction has been reached, yielding a creamy drink that isn’t too light nor too dark/concentrated in color.
Can I use any tea?
Chai is most commonly made with black tea, but other types of tea can be used to make chai as well such as Kashmiri chai (click here for my recipe for this famous pink chai) which is made with a type of green tea. In my extensive experience of drinking chai, I’ve found that the best type of black tea for chai is CTC Assam Black Loose Tea.
Cut, Tear, Curl...
CTC refers to the mechanical steps during the processing of black tea leaves. The machine cuts, tears, and curls the leaves into small granules. This allows for a much more concentrated tea or chai. Think of it like chunky kosher salt versus table salt. A teaspoon of coarse salt won’t be as concentrated in saltiness as the teaspoon of finer ground table salt.
Two teas I’ve used for making chai are:
And you’ll need a very fine mesh strainer like this one.
I’m ready! How do I make it?
Ingredients
1/2 cup of water + 1/2 cup
3-4 cardamom pods
3-4 cloves
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp CTC Assam Loose Leaf Tea
1/2 cup whole milk
Be careful using plant-based milks for chai, as their boiling points differ from cow’s milk. I’ve tried using almond milk with this method, and it doesn’t yield the same creamy texture. If you want to use plant-based milk, use less tea leaves and do not bring the chai to a boil after adding the milk. Only lightly simmer it.sweetener, to taste
Note: If scaling this recipe up, your starting point/water amount should be scaled up without the additional 1/2 cup of water. The extra 1/2 cup of water is to ensure there’s enough water to simmer and cook the tea for long enough without all the water evaporating. So if you double the recipe, you’ll start with 1 cup of water + 1/2 cup = 1.5 cups. If you’re tripling it, you’ll use 1.5 cup + 1/2 cup = 2 cups. I hope that makes sense!
Yields 1 cup/serving of chai
You have no excuses now!! So the next time I come over to your home for a daawat (gathering), if you serve me boiled tea with a can of evaporated milk on the side…
