To offset the pain of waking up this morning, especially after the late night baking session on Sunday night, I skipped the gym and came straight home to relax, cook a meal of warm lentil salad (the perfect weekday meal), and clean up the mess I made in the apartment over the weekend. Last week's warm spell was nice but disturbing considering that it's the middle of January and I actually saw someone walking around with a tank top on. It's finally feeling like winter again, and that gave me occasion to make a little chai to top off the most perfect evening. M.'s mother makes the best chai in the world, no exaggeration. Unbeknownst to her, I long for her chai on many cold nights. My chai is a poor man's version of M.'s mom's, but it was good enough for me on this dark winter night.
Recipe: Brooklyn Poor Man's Chai
1. Warm milk (regular or soy) over medium-low heat.
2. Meanwhile, peel and thin slice a knob of ginger, about half the size of your thumb.
3. When milk comes to a low boil, steep a bag of black tea (preferably darjeeling) and ginger in milk for 8 minutes or so until the milk takes on a gingery bite. If you'd like, you can also steep 3-4 cardamom pods and/or a large pinch of cloves along the ginger.
4. Remove from heat, sweeten with raw honey, sprinkle with cinnamon and freshly-ground nutmeg.
5. Enjoy!
5 comments:
one tip on honey, best added just before drinking. it maintains the medicinal, antibacterial properties.
also, please stop taking the slightly off centered picture of food. i demand a straight on shot every now and then. too gourmet magazine.
Thanks for the tip on the honey, M.
Ha! Today's post has some full-frontal shots just for you. I've just been experimenting with "composition." :)
i wouldn't even call this poor man's chai.... who can afford a $3.50 per cup per day chai?!
Paula K,
Sorry about the confusion! I actually meant it as a figurative, "poor man," meaning a poor, pathetic version of my friend's mother's original.
As for your question about who can afford $3.50 per chai, I guess you haven't seen the lines at Starbucks lately. And that for some steamed milk with a squirt of syrup.
I'm a sucker for fresh chai. Sooooo good. Instead of coffee, we served fresh chai at our wedding (in whole milk). Divine. Thanks for the reminder to just make it myself instead of whatever combination some manufacturer thinks is good. Cardamom is just so tasty.
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