Indian Masala tea

If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; if you are depressed, it will cheer you; if you are excited it will calm you. ~William Ewart Gladstone

One of the life's simple pleasures lies in sipping a hot cup of freshly brewed tea leaves with fragrant spices and condiments and biting a spicy VADA PAV , KACHORI OR FRITTERS on a cold winter day.

Sharing today traditional Indian masala chai recipe.

Ingredients:

• 20-25 green cardamom
• 1/4 th cup ground dry ginger powder/sounth
• 20-25 black pepper corn
• 10 -12 cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 star anise(optional)
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds(optional)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder(optional)

Directions:

• Grind all the  spices mentioned above in a blender to a fine powder.
• Store in an air tight bottle.
  

For making masala tea:

• 3/4th cup of water
• Sugar to taste
• 1 tsp tea leaves
• 1 tsp chai masala
• A small piece ginger (crushed)
• 2-3 basil leaves(optional)
• 1/4th cup milk

Directions:
Boil water in a pan, add sugar, tea leaves, chai masala powder  along with crushed ginger and basil  leaves. Boil it for 3-4 minutes on low flame, add milk and boil for another 3-4 minutes.
Serve hot. 

For iced tea lovers  try  these refreshing flavours orange spiced tea or Earl grey & rose iced tea or Peach & apple iced tea

Thandaai

Holi is supe duper fun at my place! It's bound to be when you've got a six year old boy :)! He enjoys it so much...the colours, the water ballons, pichkari!! I give him all that yummy food which he enjoys just as much as the colour and stuff...gujiyaas and laddoos appear and disappear fast from the plates ;) but these are for him so it's bound to happen! What's for us...well it's thandaai...the little one doesn't enjoy it yet...it's bit spicy for his tastebuds...so I make it just for me and hubby in large quantities.....no there's no bhaang in it before you get any ideas..it's spicy and tasty!! :)

So let's the celebrations begin with this traditional Thandaai :)

Holi hai bhai holi hai......bura naa maano holi hai :) :) 

Ingredients:

• 1 liter full cream milk
• 20-25 almonds 
• 20-25 cashews 
• 20- 25 pistachio
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds
• 3 tbsp poppy seeds
• 2 tbsp melon seeds
• 8-10 black peppercorns
• 8-10 green cardamom
• 10-15 edible rose petals
• Few strands of saffron
• Sugar to taste
  

Directions:

• Soak almonds, cashews, pistachios, poppy seeds, melon seeds and fennel seeds in  water for an hour. Peel almonds and make a fine paste of all these ingredients using some milk. Keep aside.
• Bring milk to boil, add cardamom seeds, rose petals, saffron strands and sugar to the boiling milk and simmer the flame. Add the ground paste to the milk and simmer the flame for 4-5 minutes.
• Strain and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
• Garnish with rose petals and few saffron strands.
• Serve chilled.