Discovering the Joys of being Sick (or... how to make Chai-Stand Quality Chai)

Suffering cabin fever, I ventured out of the house today; boldly breaking my dependency bond with the loo and so discovered this outrageous superstore just five minutes from my door: Deepack Food + Wine (wine made in India?!) They seem to carry the largest selection of Indian foodstuff I've seen in London to date, plus a lot of European wines. Feeling adventurous (and 'independent') I bought all the ingredients for Chai, refreshed my memory by consulting Nicholas' friend and chef de jour Kent, who makes the best Chai, in our opinion, and spent an enjoyable afternoon experimenting in the kitchen, trying to achieve "Chai-Stand quality chai."

Chai is much better homemade, and way more fun to make than getting at Starbucks as you'’re able to tweak it with a little less sugar or light milk, or a bit more cinnamon, and for the same price of one 'from-the-carton, syrupped-out franchise souless chai', you'll be able to make enough for the whole winter. The best part, though, is sharing your new talent with your friends... What a warm thoughtful gift on a cold autumn's day.

Chai Ingredients: (in order of appearance)
Enough for 1 cup

1 cup water, boiling
1 tbs black tea
2 cardamom seeds, cracked open
1 'loonie' or '10p' - sized slice of ginger, julienned
2 cloves
2 dashes of cinnamon
2 tbs sugar

Add ingredients to boiling water, allow to simmer for a few minutes, then pour in approx. 1/4 cup milk. Bring to a boil again, lifting pot off stove as to avoid the whole thing from foaming over. Do this for a few minutes, really allowing the tea to 'steep.' Then strain into cup. Enjoy!

Or, if you want a more enjoyable recipe and further insights into the elusive chai techniques, watch Kent make it live here.

But seriously, it isn't the ingredients that make this chai so good... it's all in the technique, as Nicholas will attest to in his "Chai Talk" series. I served my chai to Ryan and Mandy who both agreed it had potential but lacked delivery in the punch. I think the problem was I used skim milk and forgot the cloves... will try again tomorrow.

I think I've developed another joy of being sick (at least it's a more social activity than my new online quiz-taking habit)