Masala Chai

I find great comfort in Indian spices. Each time I make curry a certain feeling of home comes over me. This is strange considering my upbringing. There could be nothing further from the foods I grew up with than Indian curry. The first time I made this Masala Chai at home it felt as though I had been drinking it all my life. What makes this even more strange is the fact that I have been a self proclaimed coffee addict for a better part of the last 10 years. Two weeks ago had you told me I was considering switching from coffee to tea, I would have said you were out of your mind. What I love about Masala Chai is that there are so many variations, just a few spices, yet depending on your mood it can be different each time. If your only experience with Masala Chai is that of Chai Tea Latte at your favorite coffee shop, well this is quite different. I have always seen that Chai as more of a dessert or a treat. That Chai is syrupy and sweet. This Masala Chai is spicy, warm, and comforting. I have come to learn that I like it with no sweetener at all. I am giving you the basic recipe that I started with, but I highly encourage you to adapt it to your own moods and tastes, just as I have done over the last two weeks. I will tell you that if I do use sweetener, my favorite is a teaspoon of maple syrup and I almost always use four slices of ginger. I also find fennel to be really overpowering, so really just two seeds to start. There are also options to add cloves or whole peppercorns, I haven't tried them yet, but it doesn't mean that you can't. Quality does matter, make sure you find yourself some nice fresh spices and a good quality tea. I hope you find this Masala Chai as comforting as I have the last couple of weeks.

Masala Chai
adapted from The Kitchn and Journey Kitchen

3/4 cup water
3 inch cinnamon stick, broken
one whole star anise
3 cardamom pods, crushed
2 fennel seeds
2 large, thin slices of ginger
3/4 cup milk (I used whole, but you could use skim, almond, soy, even coconut)
2 teaspoons black tea (I used Assam)
1 teaspoon sweetener of your choice (honey, maple syrup, raw sugar, agave nectar)

Place water cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, fennel, and ginger in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add milk and tea and bring back to boil, turn down and let simmer for 2 minutes. Pour sweetner into bottom of a mug. Strain tea mixture into mug with a fine mesh strainer. Wrap your hands around the warm mug, inhale the warm spices, sip hot tea carefully. Repeat often.