Kolkata Street Chai

By Chaiwalla
February 16, 2014
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Author Notes: Ever had chai in the streets of Kolkata? Sweet and creamy against the edge of black tea - simply spiced with cardamom and warmed with lots of ginger - here's the recipe! —Chaiwalla

Serves: 2

  • 3 cups water
  • 1 ounce fresh grated ginger
  • 3 teaspoons assam CTC loose black tea leaves (or orange pekoe) (equivalent is 3 tea bags)
  • 3 green cardamom pods, coarsely ground in a mortar and pestle, leave the pods in
  • 1 1/2 cups 3.25% milk
  • 3 tablespoons raw cane sugar, or equivalent
  1. Bring the water and ginger to a rolling boil.
  2. Turn the heat down to medium high (6 on my dial), and simmer for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the black tea.
  4. Simmer 5 minutes.
  5. Add the milk and ground cardamom with their pods.
  6. When the mixture returns to a boil, put the timer on for 7 minutes.
  7. Add the sugar, stir, strain into cups, enjoy!
  8. Notes: If your chai is still watery - turn the dial up next time one higher, and boil this batch down a bit more. If you want to tone down the bitterness of the tea, put 2 tsp instead. If you have less than 3 cups of tea at the end of things, then turn your dial down a bit next time, or simmer for less time. These times work perfectly on my stove - but it is a crappy electric stove, so who knows :) You can play with the quantity of ginger too - I like LOTS! I will be posting a recipe for a mixture of teas you can use to get a nice balance of flavours and the edginess of cheap tea similar to street chai in India. You can double, triple, etc. this recipe, just expect it to take a bit longer to come back to the boil the second time around.

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