Ginger Cardamom Chai

I grew up drinking chai (spiced Indian tea with milk). It is made in similar fashion across a wide region from the middle east to the far east.

A pictorial flowchart to making chai. Image credits at the bottom page.

List of ingredients:

2 cups 1 cups	cold water whole milk OR.. Half cup half and half + water to make up.
2 table spoons	Loose black tea (Red Label or Taj Mahal) or some Darjeeling/Assam varieties
(OR 3 bags	(Sometimes I use Tetley black tea bags- Low mess option, slightly  weaker tea)
1 inch piece	fresh ginger (crushed in mortar and pestle or under a strong wrist)
2 teaspoons	black peppercorns
2 whole	cardamom pods (crushed in mortar pestle – or use a pinch cardamom powder in a rush)
2 TBSP (OR 5 teaspoons	Honey Sugar)

Steps:

In a quart pan, add cold waer, spices, ginger and tea leaves. Start heating the water to a boil.

As the water just starts boiling, add the milk. (I microwave the milk to warm to speed up if needed).

if using sugar, you can add sugar directly if everybody has same "sweet" needs.
if using honey or different sweet needs - do not add sweetener here.

*** As it starts to boil again, switch off. Perhaps even move from the heat. This is the step where it routinely spills over, especially if left unwatched or on those glass top/electric stoves. **

Strain through a mesh strainer into cups.

Add honey, stir and enjoy.


Image derived) from my personal pictures and users: wikimedia commons (tea leaves, glass of milk, glass of water), freshfoodinaflash.com (straining tea), http://bombayspiceabq.com (pepper)

Nutrition Info (Screenshot of my Recipe on MyFitness pal)

Spice boxes for Good Cause(s)

I had the honor of leading a culinary adventure showcasing ‪#‎southindian‬ ‪#‎tamil‬ and ‪#‎northindian‬ ‪#‎cuisine‬ at the co.space today. We were fortunate to enjoy a good meal with friends but my heart was saddened by nature's fury at ‪#‎chennairains‬ and innocent lives lost at ‪#‎sanbernardino‬. I have donated some money right now from my Indian account to chennai but I am planning to raise additional funds for BOTH causes (social services in CA and Chennai) through spice box sales. I have lived in Calif and in Chennai and this affects me deeply at a personal level.

Please take a look at the pics to get a general idea. I'm prepping boxes this week and will set up a campaign to order them if you want to buy some for friends and family and help out a good cause.
www.spicetruck.net
 
Contact me directly by email at naridon@gmail.com or 814 753 4459

Here is a nifty gift for those of you interested in cooking with spices or just love Indian/Asian spices.

Other variations of this product (featured in pics) available starting at $15 (+ S&H costs). Contact me directly by email at spicetruck@live.com or 814 753 4459 if you want one of these items which use "eco-conscious spice organizers" aka reusing cookie tins. All the spices are packed in safe, new, food grade smaller tins.

Also, if you want the outer container in new stainless steel those sets are available for $24.95 + shipping (depending on location). I will also throw in additional spices in zip lock bags with these orders!

Most locations in the lower 48 states of US shipping is ~$ 4.50. Local delivery available at State College PA. Volume discounts (if over 3 pieces) available.

with labels

Centrally placed

Spice box - Google Trends

I was doing a search for some specific spices (cardamom and cumin seeds) that I was running low on when I came across a suggested link to google trends.

Decided to query "spice box" to see what the trends were and found some interesting developments in the last decade or so..

See for yourself (Breakout indicates a growth over 5000%)


and the forecast

Wheat Halwa with Cardamom Flavor

Dessert from wheat flour, sugar, butter and cardamom

Featured spice: Cardamom- Image courtesy Wikimedia 

Ingredients

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup sugar*

2 cups water

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil

3 tbsp raisins

3 tbsp sliced almonds or cashews

1 tsp powdered cardamom and 1 extra tbsp butter for garnish roasting

A deep skillet or pan (also 9" or larger diameter is better)

A small 1-2 quart pot to make sugar-water

(You will also need a small bowl/plate for holding the garnishing nuts)

Couple of spoons and ladles and cloth or mitts etc to handle hot items.

Instructions:

1. Bring water to boil in the small pot (while this is heating up, go to step 2.) Add sugar and stir couple of times to dissolve it. Lower the heat to minimum and hold.

2. Add 1 tbsp butter to a medium size (9 inch dia?) pan and roast nuts and raisins over medium heat. Remove the nuts & raisins and keep them in small bowl. Check the water/sugar stuff in step 1. Place pan back on the stove.

3. Next, add the remaining butter/coconut oil to the pan and once it is melted, slowly add the flour to the pan and start stirring regularly so that the flour gets roasted. Make sure to stir regularly and do not leave stove unattended to avoid burning the flour. There will be a distinct smell that will come from roasted flour (not burnt flour, haha) that will tell you when it is ready. The color of the flour will also change, but some of this is a skill you learn over time based on your stove type and heat input. But normally 5-7 mins of roasting over medium heat works on my GE electric coil range. It will be faster on natural gas flame stoves.

4. Meanwhile, the sugar would have fully dissolved so switch off and add powdered cardamom to the sugar water. 

5. Next, add this sugar water to the roasted flour mixture while stirring very regularly.  Continue stirring and add a little extra butter or oil if needed to keep flour from sticking.

6. Keep stirring till the texture of the mixture reaches even consistency and also, the flour mix (halwa now) will separate from the walls of the pan or the bottom more easily. Reduce heat/switch it off and transfer to serving plate and then garnish/sprinkle with nuts. You can also try sprinkling freshly shredded coconut or adding banana slices on the serving plate (I have not tried bananas, but it is easy to give ideas :P Have tried mango slices though).

ENJOY.

Optional: You can also enjoy this with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, to complement the heat.