Nostalgia works in some of the greatest ways. Seeing a commercial with a mom bringing out a tray of cookies and remembering when you tried to make cookies with your cousin but ended up putting too much flour in. Or when you smell coffee being brewed before the sun has even had a chance to wake up on a Christmas morning. I mean personally I cannot relate to either of these scenarios because I grew up in a Somali/Kenyan and Muslim family. So instead of making cookies and failing, I would attempt to make mandazis and nearly burn my arm off because of the sizzling of the hot oil. And instead of smelling coffee in the morning I would smell chai every morning. Chai is the drink of all drinks in East African cultures and is served with just about anything; chapatti (East African flat bread) honey and chai, chopped beef and Somali anjeero (flat bread), and even when you are sick the go to remedy before actual medicine is chai. This is nothing like the chai you find on grocery store shelves where you just add hot water. This is Chai (pronounced shaah) and you need at least 15 minutes to make it correctly. Trust me, you can tell if you made it right because you will see the bottom of the glass before you have even touched your meal. And if you made it wrong – well let’s just say that you would be better off with the chai on a shelf. So follow this instruction guide correctly and you will have yourself a hot beverage so good it will knock your socks off.
First, you will need a tea pot, tea leaves (amazon link for tea leaves will be at the bottom of the page), 3 cups of milk, 2 cups of water, a tea strainer, and your favorite mug. Next, you will need to fill it with 3 cups full of water and 2 cups of milk. Heat the tea pot on a stove until the water boils. Then, reduce the heat and add 1 1/2 scoops of tea leaves. After you have added the tea leaves, turn the heat back up and watch the tea carefully as it bubbles and foams. Once the tea turns brown and there is no white foam left turn off the stove. Congratulations! You have your own authentic chai tea. Now, take your strainer and pour the tea into your favorite mug. If you have a thermos that is also highly recommended as well, just to keep the tea hot for a long time. After the tea is in the cup you can mix sugar in it if you would like.
Here are some health benefits to this drink you are about to consume from authoritynutrion.com. It is high in Omega-3. How high? It has more than salmon. For you carb crazy consumers there’s 12 carbs in chai; 11 of which are from fiber. Also, they are high in antioxidants and have only 1/3 the amount of caffeine that a regular cup of coffee has. Chai tea is a great drink that you could pick up at your local Starbucks, but until you have an East African chai you will never know what you’re missing.
Click Here Health Benefits of Chai
Click Here Amazon Link for Chai Leaves
