Masala chai means spiced tea: chai is the word for tea in Hindi and many other South Asian languages, and masala means a mix of spices. It is black tea simmered with water, milk, sugar and whole spices such as cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and cloves, then strained into cups. The drink comes from India, where black tea with milk became an everyday habit in the early twentieth century, and it is now made all over the world.
This version uses strong Ceylon black tea and Sri Lanka's own spices: true cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and Ceylon black pepper. It is sweet, milky and gently spiced, and takes about 15 minutes. For the everyday unspiced Sri Lankan milk tea, kiri tea, and for what chai means in different places, see our page on chai tea and Sri Lankan milk tea.
How to make masala chai with Ceylon tea
- Serves 2
- Prep: 5 minutes
- Cook: 10 minutes
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- 250 ml water
- 250 ml whole milk
- 2 tsp loose-leaf Ceylon black tea (a strong broken grade such as BOP), or 2 tea bags
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 2.5 cm piece Ceylon cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 4 black peppercorns
- 2 cm piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced or grated
- 3 tsp sugar or grated jaggery (kithul or palm sugar), or to taste
Method
- Crush the spices. Lightly crush the cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle, just enough to crack them open.
- Simmer the spices. Put the water, crushed spices and ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, until the water is fragrant and lightly coloured.
- Brew the tea. Add the tea and simmer for 2 minutes, until the liquid turns a deep reddish brown.
- Add the milk. Pour in the milk and add the sugar or jaggery. Bring back to the boil over a medium heat, watching closely because it can rise and boil over, then simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, until the chai is a rich caramel colour.
- Rest. Take the pan off the heat, cover it and leave for 1 minute so the leaves settle and the flavours round out.
- Strain and froth. Strain into a jug. For the Sri Lankan tea-shop finish, pour it back and forth between the jug and a cup from a height of about 30 cm a few times to make a light froth, then pour into two cups and serve hot.
Which Ceylon tea is best for masala chai?
Chai needs a tea strong enough to stand up to milk, sugar and spice. Broken grades of Ceylon black tea, such as BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) and BOPF (Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings), brew quickly and give a dark, full-bodied liquor, which makes them a good choice for any milk tea. Large whole-leaf teas are better saved for drinking plain. If you use tea bags, pick an everyday strong black tea rather than a delicate or flavoured one, and let it simmer for the full 2 minutes.
How can you adjust the spices?
- Cardamom and ginger are the heart of most masala chai. If you like it warming, add more ginger; if you like it fragrant, add another cardamom pod.
- Cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon is mild and sweet, so a slightly larger piece will not overpower the tea.
- Cloves and pepper give depth and bite, but a heavy hand makes the chai harsh; keep them to a few.
- Extras. Some cooks add a few fennel seeds, a small piece of star anise or a pinch of nutmeg.
Simmer fresh ginger in the water before the milk goes in, as the recipe does; adding raw ginger straight to hot milk can sometimes make it curdle.
What are the Sri Lankan touches?
Three habits of Sri Lankan tea-making suit masala chai well. The first is frothing: tea-shop keepers pour milk tea between two vessels from a height to cool it slightly and give it a foamy top. The second is sweetening with jaggery, the dark palm sugar that Sri Lankans also eat in small pieces alongside a cup of plain tea; kithul jaggery gives a rounder, caramel sweetness than white sugar. The third is milk powder: many Sri Lankan households make milk tea with powdered milk rather than fresh. To use it here, simmer the spices and tea in 450 ml water, then whisk in 4 heaped tablespoons of milk powder off the heat before straining.
Is masala chai the same as chai tea?
In English-speaking countries, chai tea usually means spiced milk tea, so in practice it means masala chai, even though chai on its own simply means tea. In Sri Lanka, asking for tea usually gets you plain black tea or milk tea without spices. Cafe chai lattes are a different thing again, usually made from a sweet spiced syrup or powder mixed with steamed milk.
Can you make it ahead?
Masala chai is best made fresh, because the tea turns bitter and the milk forms a skin if it is left to stand. If you want to save time, simmer the spices in water ahead, strain, and keep the spiced water in the fridge for up to 2 days; bring it back to the boil and carry on from step 3. For more cups, multiply everything, but keep the simmering times the same.
