Bihari Masala Chai

Method

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   About Bihari Masala Chai: Chai is the social glue of Bihar — drunk three to five times daily, offered to every visitor at the door, brewed at every roadside tea stall. The Bihari version leans heavily on fresh ginger and green cardamom, with a strong dark colour and rich milky body. Once you make it this way, you may struggle to drink tea bags again.

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   Choose the right tea leaves: Use a strong CTC (crush-tear-curl) Assam tea — the small black granules sold at any Indian grocer. Loose orthodox tea will give a thinner, paler chai. Avoid Darjeeling, which is too delicate for masala chai.

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   Prepare the ginger: Take a 1 inch piece of fresh ginger. Scrape off the thin skin with the back of a spoon — this leaves all the flavourful flesh intact. Crush firmly with the flat of a heavy knife on a board, until juicy and broken but still in chunky pieces. Crushed ginger releases far more flavour than grated.

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   Crush the cardamom: Take 3 green cardamom pods. Place on a board and crush with the flat of a knife or pestle until the pods crack open and the seeds are slightly bruised. Both the pod and the seeds go into the chai — the pod adds floral notes the seeds lack.

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   Prepare the cloves: Take 2 cloves. They go in whole — no need to crush.

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   Measure the water: Pour 2 cups of cold water into a small saucepan. The 2-cups-water-to-1-cup-milk ratio is the Bihari standard for a strong, dark chai. Adjust to your taste later, but try this ratio first.

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   Boil the water with the spices: Place the saucepan over high heat. Add the crushed ginger, crushed cardamom and whole cloves to the cold water. Bring to a rolling boil and let it boil for 2-3 minutes. Pre-boiling the spices in water alone (before adding tea) extracts their flavour deeply.

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   Add the tea leaves: Once the water has boiled with spices for 3 minutes, add 2 tsp tea leaves. Stir once. The water will turn dark brown almost immediately.

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   Boil the tea: Let the tea boil hard for 2 minutes. Watch the colour deepen to a strong dark mahogany. Boiling is what extracts the depth and body that makes chai different from steeped tea.

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    Add the milk: Pour in 1 cup of whole milk. Stir to combine. The chai will turn from dark brown to a beautiful creamy tan colour.

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    Bring back to a boil: Increase heat to high if needed and bring the chai back to a full boil. Watch carefully — chai loves to overflow at this stage. As soon as it rises and threatens to boil over, lift the pan off the heat momentarily, then return it. Repeat this rise-and-lift two or three times — the technique is called pulling the chai and concentrates the flavour.

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    Last minute settle: Switch off the heat. Cover the pan with a lid and let the chai settle for 30 seconds undisturbed. This rest lets the flavours marry.

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    Strain through a fine sieve: Place a fine-mesh sieve over each cup or a serving teapot. Pour the chai through, pressing the strainer gently to extract every drop of milky tea. Discard the spent leaves and spices.

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    Sweeten and serve: Add 1-2 tbsp sugar per cup, stir to dissolve and serve immediately while piping hot. Many Biharis prefer their chai very sweet — start with 2 tsp sugar per cup and adjust. Pair with biscuits, samosas or just plain enjoyment.