Tea Masala...my version
Tea masala is a mix of spices that are used in India to spice up your morning brew. However, it’s mix of spices is usually up for much debate and argument. The reason being is that no two regions have the same recipe for this mix. In researching a tea masala recipe, for rough quantities as my recipe was from my mother-in-law and didn’t have any, I found no two recipes were the same. However, tea masala recipes seem to be regional and even more diverse than garam masala recipes! So this recipe is my family version, as I’ve taken some tips from my Mother and Mother-in-law (helps keep the peace). Having said this I’ve found most recipes have a few things in common, such as cardamom and ground ginger. I’ve even seen recipes with dried orange peel and star anise…sounds more of a Chinese red stock mix than tea masala! My recipe includes Ganthoda also known as long pepper root, although it can be left out if you can’t get it. Ganthoda is said to have calming effects on your stomach and helps promote sleep. I think it probably counteracts the effect of the caffeine in the tea, clever really. Ground ginger, also known as Soonth, is also a help for digestion and is often used in Ayurvedic medicine for treating stomach ulcers. Masala tea is usually drunk with sugar, this seems to enhance the spices and gives a much better kick to it. My recipe has both white pepper corns and black pepper corns, both adding a different warming note to the masala. Tea masala is only used in small quantities, that is, 1 scant teaspoon to make 2 large mugs. In India masala tea is served almost in espresso cups- highly sweet and highly spiced - a bit like Arabic coffee. Ingredients 1 cup white pepper corns 1/4 cup black pepper corns 2 5cm pieces of cassia bark or cinnamon sticks broken up into small pieces 1/4 cup of whole green cardamom 1tbsp ground ginger 1 tbsp Ganthorda (long pepper root) - optiona *its important to know that these are approximate quantities and you may want to adjust the quantity of spices according to your taste and preference* Method: Mix all spices together and dry them by placing on a baking tray in a single layer in a low oven, 30mins at 150C stirring half way through. Allow the spices to cool completely and grind in spice grinder to a fine powder. You may wish to pass the powder through a sieve to remove slightly larger bits from the cardamom, but isn’t necessary. Store in a airtight glass container. Do not put it into a plastic container as it seems to reduce the taste of the masala.