method to make masala tea powder or indian chai masala powder. indian chai or tea is a common beverage for us. we start our day with a blend of ginger-mint tea or cardamom ginger tea. sometimes to make the chai more spiced, i do add cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds. i love herbal tea and the indian masala chai is an all time loved beverage.
if you make the masala tea powder, then you don’t have to add any spices to the tea while making it, unless you want a strong hint and taste of a particular spice. its best to make your own chai masala. you can add the ingredients you want. also the chai masala or for that matter any masala you make at home is much more fragrant and strong than the ready made masala powders.
we got a good measure of dry lemon grass at the market recently. i love lemon grass tea. knowing the health benefits of lemongrass, i decided to add it to the masala chai powder.
i will share with you both the basic tea masala (in the notes section of the recipe card below) and this lemon grass version which i made. there is no perfect masala chai recipe. in india the masala chai varies from home to home. also the spices and herbs you add can be your favorites or you can add it for a particular health benefit…. eg lemon grass helps in detoxification or rose petals are a natural coolant. depending on your health conditions and what benefit you want to derive, you can add the desired herbs or spices.
the spices added to the masala chai have a lot of health benefits and the masala chai is one ayurvedic drink you can have during the day.
i did not have dry tulsi/holy basil and dry rose petals. if you can manage to get these, then do add do the masala chai powder. also if you can get lemon grass, then nothing like it.
you will also need dry ginger/saunth or dry ginger powder. this is easily available in india, but not sure about other countries. the rest of the spices are easily available everywhere.
more how to recipes –
masala tea powder
INGREDIENTS FOR masala tea powder
- 4 to 5 pieces of dry ginger (saunth) or ½ cup dry ginger powder
- 1.5 whole nutmeg (jaiphal)
- 10 grams small cardamom (choti elaichi or green cardamoms) or 2 tablespoons green cardamoms
- 7 to 8 long cinnamon sticks
- 5 grams cloves (laung) or about 1 to 1.25 tablespoons
- 3 tablespoons fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1 teaspoon whole black pepper, optional
- ¾ cup chopped lemon grass, optional
- ½ cup dry rose petals, optional
- ½ cup dry holy basil (dry tulsi leaves), optional
HOW TO MAKE masala tea powder
- first grind the dry ginger.
- now grind the nutmeg.
- finally grind all the rest of the spices and herbs with the already ground ginger and nutmeg.
- store in an air-tight jar.
- use the chai masala, whenever you make an indian chai.
- around ¼ teaspoon chai masala is perfect for 2 cups of indian masala chai. though you can add ½ teaspoon for a more spiced chai.
RECIPE TIPS
- 7 to 8 pieces of dry ginger or about ½ to ⅔ cup dry ginger powder
- 2 to 3 whole nutmeg (jaiphal)
- 20 grams green cardamoms (choti elaichi)
- first grind the dry ginger.
- now grind the nutmeg and cardamom.
- store the simple and basic chai masala in an air-tight container.
how to make masala tea powder
1. cut the lemon grass with the kitchen scissor to small or medium sized pieces.
2. below you can see all the spices you will need… are you sure, its all the spices or one important spice is missing?
3. dry ginger is very hard. so you do need a strong dry grinder or a coffee grinder to grind the dry ginger. grind the dry ginger first. or else use dry ginger powder, if you don’t want to take the trouble of grinding it.
4. so whats missing from the spices…. can you guess it? … its an important spice essentially used in chai masala and it is………. nutmeg. grate the nutmeg directly into the powdered ginger… ain’t i stupid? why i am grating the nutmeg?
5. why don’t i add it to the ginger powder and grind it. if the strong and hard dry ginger can be ground, than the not so strong nutmeg can also be ground.
6. these two, that is the dry ginger and nutmeg should be ground first. later add the other spices including the lemon grass to the already ground nutmeg and ginger.
7. grind all of them to a powder. a little coarseness will do. you don’t have to get a very fine powder. when you open the lid, you will get such a strong fragrance of the indian tea spice blend… enjoy it…
8. store the dry chai masala powder in an airtight container.
9. while making the indian chai, add around ¼ tsp of the chai spice mix blend to black tea with milk for 2 cups of tea.
have a healthy start to your days.
Mam how can I make it instant masala tea premix same like nescafe for business.
along with the ground masala powder, you will need to add milk powder, powdered sugar and tea powder in the premix. hope this helps. check the labels of some brands that sell premix powder and you will get an idea. hope this helps.