Masala tea and homemade tea masala powder

Hi Friends ! How are you all ? I am very glad to blog again after a few months.

India is famous for its chaai (tea ) varieties. Indian teas are quite different from any other countries'. It is usually prepared with more milk (see recipe below). We make many teas like mint tea, ginger tea, cardamom tea etc. Most of the teas are made with fresh ingredients by grinding them. But keeping a masala for chaai at hand will make our job easier.  Here is one Tea masala recipe for this cold weather. I make this tea masala powder in small batches and keep them in freezer  to preserve the fresh smell.  I find it as aromatic as any famous store brand. Hope you all love my version and enjoy a cup of tea with me :)

Home made tea masala

Spicy masala tea ! My every morning happiness is putting a flask full of masala tea in his office bag :)

My new collection....cute Indian tea cups. Bought this in a nearby Indian grocer shop for $12. (2013)

Have  a look !

Ingredients:
Cardamom seeds - 1 tbsp
cloves - 1 tbsp
cinnamon -1 full roll
star anise  - 2
ginger powder - 8 tbsp
bay leaf - 2
black pepper - 1 tbsp

Method:
Dry roast all items one by one (except ginger powder) in medium heat without browning.  Let cool and grind to a fine powder in an Indian mixer. Store in airtight container and for more freshness, keep this masala refrigerated.

Indian masala Tea recipe: (2 cups)
Milk (2% or low fat) - 1 cup
water - 1 1/4 cup
sugar - 4 tsp
Indian black tea powder (or leaves) - 2 tsp
tea masala powder - 1 tsp

Method:
Bring water to  a rolling boil. Add tea powder and it will give  a reddish brown decoction immediately.  Then add boiled milk , sugar and tea powder. Bring it to  a boil and switch off. Filter immediately and pour into tea cups.
Serve immediately!
Microwave version : Put everything in the recipe together in a microwave safe bowl and cook for 3 minutes. Filter and serve. (Personally the stove top method is my favorite).

Note:
Some times I use my 'All spice powder', which I use for cake preparation also to make tea. Here is the basic ingredients for that.

All spice powder
Cinnamon - 2 roll
cardamom - 1 tbsp
cloves - 1 tbsp
nutmeg - 1/4
mace - 1
cumin - 1 tbsp
black pepper - 1 tbsp
ginger powder - 1/2 cup

Dry roast (everything except ginger powder) and grind and enjoy another version of masala chaai.  Add some fresh mint leaves while making tea for more flavor.