Jes Thomas is a chef and cooking instructor whose philosophy is that the soul is nurtured when you are at peace, and feeding your body properly adds to your well-being.
She loves educating people about food, especially food from her Indian culture.
Chai or chaya depending on what part of India you are in means tea.
Jes and here family are from Kerala, India. They would make chaya daily but usually used no spices or maybe, just cardamom. Other parts of India use a combination of spices like fresh ginger, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorns. This is called masala chai.
Come to find out in America we've all been ordering Chai tea wrong...Chai means tea so when we order a chai tea we're saying a "tea tea".
Rather than going to your nearest Starbucks to order a chai make your own!
For one 6oz serving, you will need:
o ½ Cup water
o ½ cup of whole milk
o 1 teabag OR 2 tsp of loose leaf black tea
o Spices(cracked cardamom pod)
o Sugar (about 1 Tablespoon)
- Bring the water and milk to a boil.
- Add your tea and spices, then boil for 1-2 minutes.
- Add sugar if desired. Bring to a boil and as it rises to the top, turn the heat low so the "liquid gold" lowers.
- Raise the heat to bring to a double boil. As it rises to the top, turn the heat off.
- Strain out the spices and tea. To froth, pour the tea from a good height into another vessel. Then pour it back and forth a few times. Sometimes this is called “hand-pulled chai”. Finally pour into the cup from which you will be drinking. Enjoy slowly sipping the goodness! Snack on some Indian "mixture" or cookies for an afternoon chai break.
