How would you like to join me for a conversation over chai masala, from anywhere in the world?
story
Virtual Chai + Convo
For years, I’ve been hosting big conversations over a pot of chai at our home in Brooklyn. We sip on tea, and much on all sorts of homemade snacks, and talk cultures, holiday traditions, bi-/multi-/inter-X life, identity…. really anything.
These meetings also evolved into coworking session, where the chai fueled our work, as well as convo over breaks.
A few years ago I also started packaging up the dry portion of my chai recipe into pot-ready portions so that I could give them as hostess gifts on our travels. Those neat little packages also mailed well, so I began sending them to friends around the world so that we could do a virtual chai together, each making a pot and then jumping on the phone or video chat.
Are you next? Request request it here, and when your tea packet arrives, refer to the recipe below.
recipe
Miss Meghna’s Masala Chai
Meghna’s Ready-Made Masala Chai
Equipment
- A pot with a spout is helpful.
- An open-mouthed strainer to sit in the mug for easy straining.
Ingredients
- My ready-made masala chai packet (tea, sugar, cardamom, fennel seeds, anise seed)
- 3 cups water
- 1.5-2 tbsp size piece of fresh ginger, sliced thin right off the cleaned root, skin and all
- 2 cups of organic 1 or 2% milk
Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot*, pour in the contents of the ready-made masala tea, add the water, and turn the heat to medium. cut thin slices of ginger off the root, directly into the pan.
- Stir occasionally until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let it steep/simmer for a minute. It should smell divine.
- Pour in milk and increase heat again. Keep an eye on it as it comes almost to a boil (likely just a few minutes), and then turn off the heat. At this point, I prefer to let it sit for a minute or two if I have the time or patience (to allow it to continue to steep). But sometimes I have to dive right in. 🙂
- Strain into a mug and enjoy!!!
Notes
- Chaiwalla bonus points: to cool it off and make it a bit frothy, you can “pull” it by pouring it back and forth between two mugs.
- Note that I provide the link for the Red Label loose tea but it is very expensive on Amazon. Find it at your local Indian store if you can.
- I’m particular about the organic here because I find it thicker than “regular,” without being whole milk. That said, I’d use whole milk in a pinch, possibly watered down a bit. Whole milk just gets to be a bit too heavy.
- Example of an open mouth strainer I have but wouldn’t have paid that much for. Get a similar one.
Bonus
Join Me!
Just head to the contact page and submit a request.
I’ll mail you my ready-made mix of tea, sugar and spices, and once you have it, we can have a virtual chat!
