How Low Food

Chai latte (RECIPE)

Travel often leads to food, and in this case, drink inspiration. Be it an exotic adventure or a day trip to a neighbouring city. Some time ago, one half of How Low Food visited India. This is his story and a little recipe he picked up along the way …

I once travelled around South India from slightly below Chennai along the east coast to Kanyakumari, the southernmost town of India. According to my itinerary, the trip was going to take me 20 hours, but anyone who has ever travelled in India knows that traveling time can and often does vary from what is initially estimated. In the end I spent a total of 29 hours on a train and literally saw the landscape pass me by. 29 hours in which I gazed, slept, ate, and talked a lot with my fellow travellers. And in which I drank many cups of Chai. Whenever the train stopped at a station you could hear the Chai Wallahs coming. And since the coffee was generally awful to drink, or you were simply sold Chai tea regardless of what you ordered, I decided to embrace this drink and allow it to become my new favourite beverage.

There is not really a standard recipe for Chai. A country as large as India has many variations, but Chai tea usually consists of; milk, a sweetener, herbs and spices and of course (black) tea. In India, buffalo milk is commonly used for making Chai , but every milk variant works just as well. We use goat’s milk, but as it has a strong and distinct flavour, it’s a bit of an acquired taste. Otherwise, soy milk or cow’s milk is fine too. Incidentally, I drank Chai without cardamom on the Indian train. Chai with cardamom is often only available in the luxurious version of this tea.

Makes two cups:

• 2 tea filters
• 4 heaped teaspoons of black tea
• 4 cloves
• 4 pods of cardamom
• 4 black peppercorns
• a piece of dried ginger
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• honey to taste

Put all the herbs and spices in a mortar and use the pestle to grind them finely, the ginger is difficult to grind, so you’ll have to tear it up in advance. Put the mixture into a tea filter and fasten it with a needle and thread or something similar.

Place the black tea in a separate tea filter. Of course you can also just use a standard black tea bag.

Put a pan of water on the fire, then add the tea filter filled with the herbs and spices and allow to come to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the second tea bag. Lower the heat and let the tea brew for approximately three minutes. Now add the milk to the pan and bring to the boil again. As soon as the Chai boils, pour it directly into two cups and add honey to taste.

Enjoy!