When I worked in a cafe in London chai lattes became all the rage and I liked it A LOT. Nowadays I make my own masala chai at home in a more traditional South Asian way, that is where this fabulous drink originates from, with loose leaf black tea, whole spices and my sweetener of choice which happens to be maple syrup for it’s rich undertone. To be honest I prefer this drink so much more and I think you will too and if you’ve never tried chai you are in for an absolute treat!

Malin x

Vegan Masala Chai

Serves 2.

INGREDIENTS:

1 star anise

4 cloves

6 Green cardamom pods

6 peppercorns

0,5 cinnamon sticks

3 thin ginger slices

1 tbsp black loose leaf tea

1 cup water

1 cup plant milk, I use oat or soy

2 tsp maple syrup

METHOD:

Add the star anise, cloves, cardamom pods and black peppercorn into a mortar and pound it with a pestle a handful of times to break the spices gently. This will allow more flavour to be infused to your tea, don’t skip the step.

Transfer the pounded spices to a small sauce pan. Break a cinnamon stick in two, you can usually do this with your hands, and add it to the pot along with ginger slices and black loose leaf tea. Pour in the water and bring the tea to a boil. Once boiling remove from the heat straight away. Leaving it boiling might make the tea bitter so pay attention. Then leave to steep for at least 10 minutes but you could continue this process for up to 24 hours. The longer you let it steep the more intense the flavour will be.

Once you’ve steeped the tea return it to the heat to warm it and pour in your plant milk of choice. Sweeten with maple syrup. I suggest 1 tsp per person but you might like less or more so start with 1 tsp in total and add the second tsp if you want it sweeter and so on. Mix the tea as you heat it gently.

Once it’s warmed through pour through a sieve into glasses and enjoy.

chai chai tea hot drink indian latte masala chai plant based south asian spiced tea vegan warmer warming winter