I took my mom to Starbucks for chai once… it didn’t go well. We spent the morning shopping, and by the afternoon, she was craving chai. We had two choices: go home so my mom could make her own chai OR convince mom to go to Starbucks so we could keep shopping. I (wrongly) chose the second option. We stood in a long line, and I ordered my mom a “chai tea” with milk. After taking literally one sip, my mom handed me the tea and said she couldn’t drink it. This was many years ago, so hopefully their recipe has improved, but I wouldn’t know. I’m pretty sure it’s still nothing like a homemade cup of chai though. So forget about ordering a chai tea or chai latte at Starbucks. It will never taste as good as what you can make in your kitchen in just a matter of minutes. To make authentic masala chai, all you need is some black tea, a few spices, and your milk choice. I grew up watching my parents drink chai two times a day – morning and afternoon. I’m Punjabi, so we actually call it “cha” and not chai, but same difference. Both words mean tea. Whenever we visit India, it seems like people are always drinking cha. It’s so good. Regular chai is so easy to make. After making it just once, you’ll probably wonder why you ever spent $5 on a chai latte. There are a few spices that you’ll need for masala chai: cardamom, cloves, fennel seeds, cinnamon (optional), and sometimes I’ll add fresh ginger too. Add these spices along with water to a teapot. Bring the water to a low boil, and then add the black tea. When the color of the water changes to a nice deep brown, add your milk. Bring everything to a boil and then turn off the heat, put the cover back on the teapot, and then strain the chai and serve. Make sure you carefully watch your pot while boiling the tea to make sure the milk doesn’t boil over. Personally, I like my chai strong with a spicy ginger flavor. Ginger can act as an anti-inflammatory, and while that’s a bonus, I love the flavor. I use black tea bags for the recipe below, but you can certainly use loose black tea if you’d like. Most people probably have easier access to the bags, which is why I’m using them here. As for the milk, you can use whatever you like! I prefer whole milk because it makes the chai perfectly creamy, but non-dairy milk is just fine too. When it comes to non-dairy milk, oat milk is my preference, but almond milk or cashew milk works too. Like this recipe? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board now so you will remember to make it later!
