Crafted with Love: Meaningful Mother's Day Gifts & a Chai Recipe Just for You
For us, every day starts with a warm cup of chai. Making chai, takes time and much like it, the time consuming creation of our handmade, fair trade collection, is an art form that is worthy of appreciation and celebration. We hope this Mother's Day, you will choose gifts that reflect the care and craftsmanship behind each piece, helping your customers honor the special mothers in their life with meaningful treasures. And speaking of chai, here's a recipe should you like to make a cup for yourself! Enjoy.
Masala Chai – A symbol of hospitality
Masala means "spice" in Hindi, and Chai means "tea". Therefore, Masala Chai translates to spiced tea. While the ingredients are simple, the spices vary depending on your individual taste – so one, you don't need all the spices in your spice rack to make a cup of Masala Chai and two, you can arrive at your own spice mix. Masala Chai, a staple beverage in Indian homes is offered to visitors any time of the day – morning, noon or night (post dinner.) It may be served with savory dry snacks.
The tea we make at home is “light," with much less milk than what most families like to use. So, I’ll share with you our recipe + what’s “typical.”
Poonam's Masala Chai
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons of loose-leaf black tea or tea bags
- 2 tablespoons whole milk. For creamier Chai, you may use 1 cup of whole milk. Oat milk and almond milk are substitutions we have enjoyed.
- 2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste. You can use any sugar or sugar alternative.
- Spices
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger root
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 1 clove
- ¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
Other spice you can use for Masala Chai are a dash of fennel, a small piece of nutmeg, mace and star anise. We also make ginger & lemongrass Chai a couple of days a week.
Lightly crush the whole spices using a mortar and pestle. In a saucepan add the water and once it comes to a boil, add the spices to it. Turn off the heat at this point and let the spices steep for about 5 minutes. Add the tea leaves and milk next. Sweeten the tea, and let it sit for about 5-7 minutes before filtering it through a sieve and serving it.
If you prefer a “richer” Masala Chai, you can use only milk and skip the water, brewing the spices and tea, right in the milk.
