Wacky Winter

The winter is coming! Or allow me to say it is trying to spread its wing in the late December at Karachi but unable to penetrate the stubborn weather disposition of the city. So what we, the Karachiities, get are chilly mornings, warm afternoons with the bright sunlight and semi cold nights. Consequently, we suffer a viral which makes us cough violently and blow jammed noses. We sleep with the warm duvets and comfy blankets keeping the fans on.

Last week I also caught a dry cough with a jammed nose. A perpetual hater of doctors, I tried to cure my viral by self-medication and during that dilemma I came up with my own invention of Masala Chai.

Although I do take a half cup of tea twice a day but I am not a Chai Lover. It came into my life as a part and parcel of an office job. And, hot sips of tea do offer a timely relief from a sore throat.

So, last Sunday when I woke up at 12:30, my throat was dry and scratchy all over. I went to the kitchen and pour the water in a pot to make a tea, telling my mother about my painful throat. She advised me to add a half inch of cinnamon stick in a tea as it is good for relieving pain. Since I make a very very bad tea, I added a small cardamom too to add aroma and then a few more ingredients which all were lying in a cabinet waiting anxiously to be discovered by me and Eureka!…A Masala tea (Sana’s version) came into being. It not only soothed my throat but helped me to shrug off the late morning laziness. Surprisingly, it tasted so well that I made it in the evening for my parents too. So, here I am sharing my recipe of Masala Chai. Please share yours if you have some other magical ingredients or method.

Serves: 2          Preparation time: 5 minutes       Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup milk

1 tbsp. tea leaves

1” ginger root, fresh

1 green cardamom

1” cinnamon stick

1 clove

Method:

1. Pour a cup of water and a cup of milk in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Add tea leaves of your choice. I used Tapal Danedaar. Turn the flame low.
3. Chop the ginger root roughly and add to the mixture.
4. Peel off the skin of a cardamom. Put its skin in the mixture or in the tea leaves jar so that its aroma mix with the leaves and every time you make tea you get a hang of it. Pestle the seeds into a fine powder and add to the tea.
5. Add cinnamon stick and clove.
6. Cook the mixture on low flame for maximum 10 mins.
7. Stir the spoon. If you are satisfied with the colour (I don’t like milky white) pour the tea in your favourite cups or mugs.

P.S: I do not take sugar in tea and coffee. No, I am not diabetic I just don’t like its flavour in both the beverages. You can add as per your taste.