Chai Masala is a perfect drink for a cold day

It's sweet, essential, aromatic, and warming - these characteristics make masala chai, a tea enriched with milk and spices, a beverage worth preparing on a winter's day. Let's get to know the recipe for the famous Indian specialty.

Ayurveda is one of the oldest healing systems, which originated over 5,000 years ago on the southeast coast of the Indian Peninsula. To this day, it is commonly practiced in India and Sri Lanka, and in 1979, it was recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a legitimate concept of health and therapy.

It was the recommendations of Ayurveda that were supposed to guide the creators of the recipe for masala chai. The recipe for a warming, cleansing, and healing drink, made from tea, milk, and aromatic spices, was supposedly born thousands of years ago at the court of one of the ancient rulers of India, however many researchers question this legend, convincing that the dish has a much shorter history and largely became popular thanks to... the British.

Residents of London and other English cities appreciated tea much earlier than the Hindus, so at the beginning of the 20th century, the British association Indian Tea Association began promoting its consumption in the country where the largest tea plantations were located. However, the residents of India did not want to copy the colonists' customs and created their own beverage. Due to the high price of tea, a weak infusion was prepared from it, which was enriched with milk, water, sugar, and spices.

Masala chai only gained substantial popularity in the 1960s when tea production was automated, which made it available to the general public. Today, the beverage is virtually ubiquitous in India - street vendors prepare it in massive pots, from which they then ladle masala chai and pour it into clay cups.

Although the dish has an exotic origin, we can easily prepare it at home without much trouble.

The base of masala chai is of course tea, ideally black, Indian (Assam or Darjeeling). The infusion made from it has high nutritional values, including being a rich source of numerous polyphenols, which neutralize the harmful effects of free radicals that accelerate the aging process of the body and contribute to the development of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease.

In the tea, we will find a high dose of saponins (which accelerate the digestion of fats, have anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, and diuretic effects), tannins (it has been proven that they protect against cancers), or tannins (which absorb many toxic chemical compounds, have anti-inflammatory, and antidiarrheal effects).

The infusion contains numerous alkaloids, especially caffeine, which stimulates the central nervous system, improving mood, focus, self-confidence, reaction speed, motor coordination, and also causing increased alertness, reduced sleepiness and fatigue. The compound accelerates heart action, dilates coronary, renal, and skin vessels, while contracts brain vessels - which can relieve tension headaches and migraines.

Spices that enrich masala chai also have many benefits. Cloves support the fight against hypertension and also lower blood sugar and "bad" LDL cholesterol, cinnamon is a treasury of polyphenols, ginger improves blood circulation, aids digestion and soothes nausea, nutmeg has a calming and soothing effect, while cardamom shows antidepressant properties - the essential oils contained in it effectively soothe sadness and depression. The intense flavor and aroma of anise are due to a high concentration of essential oils, which soothe pain and have expectorant, antibacterial, antifungal, and carminative properties.

Do you need more arguments to prepare masala chai?

Into the skillet, we pour the water (about 2 cups) and add the lightly crushed spices in a mortar (2-3 cloves, 2 anise stars, 2 cardamom pods, 2-3 black peppercorns), a cinnamon stick, a pinch of grated nutmeg, and a piece of ginger root. We bring it to a boil, after which we pour in the black loose leaf tea (2-3 teaspoons).

We simmer for five minutes, then pour in milk, in India they often use buffalo, in our conditions rather unavailable, so we replace it with cow's, with as much fat as possible (1 cup). Add sweetener: cane or coconut sugar, or possibly honey (2-3 teaspoons).

Bring it to a boil, then remove from the heat, and when the bubbles disappear from the surface, heat it again until it boils. Then we strain the drink and pour it into glasses or cups. Drink it hot.