Ginger, elaichi and masala: what to add to chai, and when
Hard spices need the water-boil stage. Aromatic ones lose their smell if they boil too long. Most good Indian chai has ginger, sometimes elaichi, and nothing else.
Hard spices need the water-boil stage. Aromatic ones lose their smell if they boil too long. Most good Indian chai has ginger, sometimes elaichi, and nothing else.
Almost always because it was boiled too long. The good compounds come out in the first three minutes; the harsh ones come out after that.
Almost every answer online blames your spices. It is usually not your spices. It is the pot, the milk and the heat, and most of it you can copy.
Tea is one of the most absorbent things in a kitchen. Air, damp, light and the masala dabba are what flatten it, roughly in that order.
Kadak means strong, not bitter. The two commonest ways of chasing it, more patti and a longer boil, both make the cup worse.
Whole leaf sells for more, so people assume it is better. It is better at something, and that something is not the cup you make every morning.
One level teaspoon, about 2 to 2.5 grams. That is 400 to 500 cups from a kilo, and under two rupees of tea in a cup of chai at any sensible price.