Tea and drink blends
Masala chai blend
The spiced milk tea of the subcontinent: cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, clove and black pepper.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for cooks, makers and the curious.
Masala chai is black tea boiled with milk, sugar and a mix of whole or ground spices. Cardamom and ginger are almost always present. It is sold from roadside stalls and made in homes, and it varies by season and by family.
What goes in
- Green cardamom429%, Perfume.
- Ginger429%, Warm.
- Cinnamon321%, Sweet.
- Clove17%, Pungent.
- Black pepper17%, Gentle heat.
- Fennel17%, Sweet.
Parts by volume of the whole spice. The ring shows each part's share.
Made step by step
Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Ratios and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional-style way.
Step 1: Pound Lightly crush the cardamom pods and the whole spices in a mortar. Step 2: Toast Dry roast them for a few seconds if you like a deeper flavour. Step 3: Infuse Boil water with the spices and fresh ginger for a few minutes. Step 4: Infuse Add black tea leaves and steep briefly. Step 5: Blend Pour in milk and sugar and bring to a boil. Step 6: Bloom Strain into cups and serve hot. Step 7: Store Keep a dry powder mix in a sealed jar. Finished Masala chai blend, by share.
The spices
Green cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, clove and black pepper are common. Fennel, star anise, nutmeg, tulsi leaves and saffron appear in other versions. Winter blends may be warmer, and summer ones lighter.
Method
Water, spices and tea are boiled together, then milk and sugar added and boiled again, so the tea is strong. Tea drinking spread widely in India in the twentieth century, helped by tea companies.
Where it is used
The spices in it
CardamomPerfume.
GingerWarm.
GingerThe pungent rhizome of a flowering plant, widely used as a spice and folk medicine.
CinnamonThe dried inner bark of Cinnamomum trees, prized for its sweet warmth and essential oil.
CloveThe dried flower bud of a tropical tree, prized for its intense warmth and numbing bite.
Black pepperThe dried fruit of a climbing vine, the world's most traded spice.
FennelThe anise-scented seeds and crisp bulb of a Mediterranean perennial herbAlso part of it, and being written: Masala chai (The drink.).
More on EveryMasala
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryMasala desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are an illustrative, traditional-style ratio, not a standard: every family and maker blends differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Clove: Bayu Nugroho, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ginger: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ginger: Venkatx5, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cardamom: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Black pepper: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fennel: Elekes Andor, CC BY 4.0, source
- Cinnamon: Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0, source