RECIPE: Chai with My Cousin

RECIPE: Chai with My Cousin

I have been hiding out a bit. Not tweeting with my tweeps. No Facebook with my Frookers. Sometimes life happens and you just have to take a deep breath and go underground for while.

So, I’ve been home,  watching Finding Nemo with my son and spending time with my family.

I’ve also started drinking chai with my cousin Rita every night.

Well, sort of.

The last time I saw her I was a little girl and we were in Bombay  on a family vacation staying at my Aunt Raj’s house and we had half a dozen cousins to play with and show us India through the eyes of children our own age. Needless to say, we did a lot of jumping on beds and drinking ice cold Coca Cola during  humid rain storms.

I have’t seen Rita or any of my  cousins in 30 years.  But we’ve reconnected thanks to the Internet and I couldn’t be more excited to have found a piece of my childhood.

She and I talk about cooking a lot and recently she sent me a wonderful chai recipe that she makes for herself and so I’ve taken to making it at night to help wind me down for bed. It’s a cozy recipe, something about the aromatic scent of cardamom, sweet creamy milk and sugar that comforts.

Sometimes, that’s just what you need … a little tea with a cousin to help get you through life’s many bumpy roads.

Chai Tea

1/2cup each of water

1/2 cup of milk ( I use half and half because I like it extra creamy)

2 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of tea powder (Taj Mahal or Brook Bond Red Label) *** You can also use English Breakfast or Darjeeling

Freshly crushed cardamom

Freshly crushed ginger

Dash of cinnamon

Directions

Boil, reduce to medium heat while stirring occasionally. Strain and serve.