Watch your cardamom pods
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/37876758]
I’ve been using tips from this video to make my chai lately. I’m not grating my own ginger and peeling cardamom pods, oh no. I have chai mixes from Cafe Luxxe and Bellocq Tea Atelier for that.
But I am letting my milk and water rise and fall three times, and putting in a good spoonful of hearty raw sugar. My nineteen year old brother Wilson is living in India this spring. When we talk on Skype, I like to relate to his life on food levels. How the naan tastes, how much the mangos cost, how he and his roommate get really confused about how to make good chai.
8 Comments
Annie Slocum
I love this video and the music!! Chai in India is the best and I have always loved making it after living in India in the 70’s. I noticed the variation of spices depending on where we were in the country. I love this recipe as it as all the ingredients. Cardamom is the most important for me after the ginger. It is a painstaking process to get those little seeds out, it is so worth it. I used to make a cardamom cookie that called for 1 T. of seeds-I just had to grin and bear it because the final cookie was so worth it!!
Rachael
Oh I love that story Annie. You’re probably right, it’s worth it. I need to do it myself on of these times. I know Wilson is now.
mayberryblues
what a great video!
Eby
The heating process reminds me of Turkish coffee. I find these ancient processes and recipes fascinating. Another ancient process I’m newly obsessed with is creating bread starters, like this which calls for apple peels for sourdough starter: http://www.newscancook.com/recipes/sourdough-made-with-apple-peel/
Rachael
whoa that is fascinating! Have you tried that one? I find Turkish coffee incredibly mystical to attempt–but it’s so delicious! That might be why I’m so into chai, same foreignness,but no special pot required.
Eby
I haven’t made the starter yet, but once I do I will report back. Turkish coffee: I’ve enjoyed it at cafes, but don’t have my own set-up at home. That’s in the “someday” folder.
noelle
I’m going to try your method of doing this because I still mess up the tea that comes in bags.
p.s. How much *are* mangoes in India?
Rachael
50 cents each! So, not really that better than here, right? But the magnos in MA aren’t from India, they’re from Mexico and Guatemala (I think). And they take three days to ripen. Lux and I love the champagne (yellow) ones.