A watercolour of a mug of pale orange-brown spiced tea with a faint dusting of cinnamon
Generated with OpenAI gpt-image-1
Adapted from Masala chai

Spiced milky tea

An established dish converted to shelf-stable ingredients. Every substitution is documented below.

How long it keeps

About 18 months, set by Tea bags.

Indicative, for planning a build before you buy. The answer for a pack you already own is the best before date printed on it, and that only holds if it has been stored as the label says.

Serves
2
Burners
1
Pans
1
Water
0.4 L
Active
5 min
Total
10 min

Ingredients

Not tea with spices added. The point is that it is simmered, which pulls far more out of both the tea and the spices than steeping ever does.

  1. 300 ml of water into the pan with the spices and the sugar. Bring to the boil and let it go for two minutes. Spices first, alone: they need the longest and they need it in water rather than milk.
  2. Tea bags in. Simmer three minutes. It will look far too strong. It is not.
  3. Milk powder whisked with 100 ml of water in a mug, then added. Back to a bare simmer for one minute.
  4. Bags out, and pour.

It should be the colour of a digestive biscuit. Paler than that and the tea was not simmered long enough to stand up to the milk.

Ground spices settle, so the last mouthful is gritty. Pour carefully and leave the last centimetre, or use whole spices if you carry them.

Serves 2.

What this was adapted from

Masala chai: tea leaves and spices simmered in milk and water, sweetened, and strained

  • whole spices bruised fresh → ground cinnamon and ginger

    Whole cardamom, cloves and cinnamon bark give a cleaner and more layered result, and they keep. Ground spices give the same flavours faster and muddier, and they make the tea cloudy, which a strainer does not fix. It is a rougher drink than the original.

  • fresh milk → milk powder or UHT milk

    Chai is simmered rather than heated, so the milk is cooked either way and the difference between fresh and long-life mostly disappears.