CHAI!

Yoga class this morning held a special treat—a fellow yogi who regularly “ommm”s loudly in the most dissonant interval.  I’m always glad to see her because I know she will bring a big smile to my face at the end of class.  Namaste!

Now it’s time for—yes, finally—a CHAI!

My search for the perfect recipe to cook up a chai from scratch is over.  For the last week my kitchen was transformed into a test lab and I did not even shy away from endangering my health to find that perfect mix.  While I enjoy spicy food (well, to a certain degree that is), it turned out that I seem to be more simple natured when it comes to chai.  Even after an extensive test phase, I ended liking the recipe I started out with the best.

[insert drumroll]

My #1 chai recipe—slightly adapted from Chai & Yoga’s blog website:

Ingredients:
2 cups of water
3 green cardamom pods
1 tsp black tea (I use loose Taj Mahal’s Orange Pekoe tea)
1 tbsp fresh ginger
2 cups nonfat or 2% milk

Instructions:
Crush cardamom and ginger with a pestle and mortar. (If you don’t have one, open the cardamom pods with your fingers and smash the ginger with the back of a knife.) Bring water, cardamom and ginger to a boil.
When the water starts to simmer add the tea and stir, then add the milk. Bring to a boil again, watching the pot carefully.  Simmer for about 3 minutes or until the color looks satisfactory, depending on how strong you like your chai.  I find the Taj Mahal tea to be very strong, so I reduced the original amount of tea from 3tsp to 1 tsp.  You may want to use more than 1 tsp, depending on your tea and preference.
Pick out big pieces of ginger with a spoon, then strain the chai into cups.  Enjoy sweetened or just like this, the latter is my personal preference.

The preparation alone is a pleasure for the senses.  Crushed cardamom pods, fresh ginger…mmhhhh!  I find I’m craving ginger even in food now.  Maybe I should get myself analyzed by an Ayurvedic practitioner one of these days.

At day 1 of the test phase, my friend Sabine from Santa Cruz stopped by and I offered her a taste of my #1 recipe.  She liked it and we exchanged ideas and recipes over the following days.  She sent me her favorite formula which, of course, I had to try.  Now, my dear reader, I mentioned that Sabine lives in Santa Cruz.  If this doesn’t mean anything to you, click here to see a typical citizen of Santa Cruz.  These people are hardcore in any way nature intended!  I noticed at first glance that Sabine’s recipe compared to mine had about twice the amount of spices, plus some additional ones with only half the amount of liquid, but hey—nothing would stop me from finding the perfect mix, right?!  I paid the price.  Big time.  The most awful heartburn haunted me for the rest of the day…  Have you ever been to a yoga class where the teacher asks you to go just a little bit deeper into the pose and engage in just a little more ujjayi breathing to fuel the fire in your body?  If you want to feel said fire in your stomach and esophagus without stretching a single muscle, cook up a cup or two of Sabine’s chai recipe, which she says she got from Yogi Tea.  Now feel the fire!!

Real Masala Chai Latte

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cups of water

- 8 green cardamom pods

- 2 slices fresh ginger, peel

- 1 stick of cinnamon, 2 inches long

- 2 whole cloves

- 2/3 cups of whole milk or low fat

- 3 tsp of loose Assam Tea

- 2 Tbs of Agave Syrup

[Since Agave syrup is fallen from grace these days, Sabine suggests using honey instead.]

Instructions:

1) Crush the cardamom and cloves together until the cardamom pods open up.

2) Put the water and spices into a pot and bring to a boil.

3) Simmer for 5min.

4) Add the milk and Tea and bring mixture to almost boiling and turn off the heat.

5) Allow the brew to infuse the tea for about 2-3 min.

6) Strain the chai, add 1Tbs of sweetener to each cup, stir and enjoy!

No matter if lots of spices or only a small selection strike your taste buds, chai is always worth an inspiring and balancing break—especially if you’re in need of some inner fire. 

Go ahead, my friend, give it a try!

On a side note:  I have not had any coffee for the past week.  This is weird, since I’m usually a 'once to twice a day' coffee aficionada.  For some reason the desire to even open the coffee jar has plummeted to below zero these days.  Maybe next time I’ll try to add a piece of ginger…

Keep your eyes peeled for part 2 of our excursions into the world of chai—this time by guest blogger, herbalist and yogi Dagmar Jones.