Tea Masala Spice Mix From North India
Chai Masala Powder
Shabd Gupta
Note from Mamta: Masala Chai is a speciality of India. Quite often, it is made with fresh ingredients added to the boiling tea water. We can’t always have access to fresh ingredients or have the time to prepare them. It is okay to use a pre-prepared spice mix. You get many different versions of it, varying from region to region, family to family and from tea shop to tea shop, though nothing beats a homemade one, where you know that everything used is fresh, of best quality and has been tweaked to suit your own taste. Some people add a few other things also, like nutmeg and mace, but this is the best version I have ever tasted.
Here is an excellent masala mix recipe from my cousin’s wife in India. All you do is add a bit of this mix to your teapot/pan of boiling water. This amount makes approximately 80 gm. or one small spice jar full. If you need more, simply multiply the amounts.
Ingredients
25 gm. whole cloves (Laung or Lavang)
25 gm. green cardamoms (Hari Illaichi)
12 gm. black peppers (Kali Mirch)
1 Long pepper (Piper longum , Peepul or Pippali or Pippli
10 gm. Ground cinnamon (Dalchini)
2-3 gm. ginger powder (Sonth or Saunth
Instructions
Grind everything together in a spice grinder or coffee grinder.
Sieve through a fine sieve. You can regrind the larger pieces left in the sieve and sieve them again. Discard any fibres that are left.
When boiling water for tea, add 1/2 tsp. per tea mug of water.
