Did you know that the word chai means tea? And therefore, calling it chai tea does not make sense? You may hear the term masala chai which denotes the tea is made with spices. My recipe calls for black tea, water and honey for sweetening.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Chai ♥
You will have read on Tuesday that we had a flight change from Istanbul to Cape Town. As we are now leaving Italy a day later, there was a lot to do after I changed our flight. The first thing to sort out was accommodation for our last night. I have booked an hotel so that we don’t have to worry about cleaning up before our early morning flight. We have the entire day to drive back to Naples and we will choose somewhere nice to go for supper. This will be a treat as we are self catering for two weeks. We have a 10am flight to Istanbul so we need to be out of the hotel by 7:15 so it will be a bright and early start for us. At least we will be able to enjoy breakfast at the airport once we get there.
Today’s inspirational recipe from Lavender and Lime ♥ Chai ♥ #LavenderAndLime Share on X
The next thing on my list was changing our documents for our Visa application. I had these all filled in already as I had time on my hands. So now I had to change the dates as well as adding in the extra accommodation. Luckily for me I gave the incorrect date for our return to work to the accountant so I don’t need a new letter from him. I have printed off the E-Visa for Turkey in case the Italian Consulate need it. And I have changed our Embassy Letter from the Travel Insurance Company. Everything is now printed again and filed away for our Visa Appointment. The next step is getting our application in, and hopefully getting a five year Visa. Can you believe how much work is generated from one flight change?
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Chai
Ingredients
- 8 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 3 whole cloves
- 2.5 mls black peppercorns
- 2 star anise
- 1 quill cinnamon
- 1 allspice
- 1 l water
- 10 mls black tea leaves *
- milk to add
- honey to taste (optional)
Method
- Place the cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon and allspice into a sauce pan
- Lightly toast over a low temperature then add the water and increase the temperature
- Bring to a simmer, cover and leave to simmer gently for 5 minutes
- Then add the tea, reduce the temperature and simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes
- Turn the stove off and leave to infuse for 2 minutes
- Strain and pour into 4 cups, then add milk to your preference, and honey to sweeten
Notes
View the previous posts on March 23:
- 2022: Kronenhoff Guest House
- 2020: Nut Pastry
- 2018: Freekeh Salad
- 2016: Skerrols House
- 2015: Pistachio Paste
I drink black coffee and wine in daytime and green tea without anything added in the evening. Chai is thought of if I plan to watch sports or politics emanating in Europe later our night . . . for a quick ‘cuppa’ I sometimes feel it ‘troppo mucho’ . . . so perchance 1-2 a week, especially in winter 🙂 ! Very much like your spice proportions and shall try . . . but black, well perchance a little honey . . . thanks! And, yes, small changes oft throw any ‘whole’ way out of whack . . .
I must get back into drinking green tea! And yes, honey for sweetening is a must 🙂
This sounds so wonderful! I made something similar when I was in college – thanks to being surrounded by hippies! It was never called chai, but the taste was the same.
I too grew up surrounded by hippies – my Aunt and Uncle and their friends. The music was the best part of that for me 🙂
Your tea sounds wonderful. I love all the spices especially the cardamom. I did not know that chai means tea. Interesting
I learnt that several years ago 😉
I love chai, and sometimes even buy a packet of instant chai for something different. When our son returned home from India many years ago it took him a while to come down from his Indian experience and busily made delicious chai from scratch for us for quite a few months. It really gave me the taste for it. You are very brave to be travelling to Istanbul now Tandy. We loved it there quite a few years ago.
Why do you say we are brave? And so nice to have someone make chai for you 🙂
Hi Tandy, luckily the boys and I have British passports so we haven’t experienced and issue like the one you describe here. We have had some complications with Terence in the past as he travels on a SA passport but the UK has loosened up a lot about him travelling with us so we don’t have the same problems any more.
Pity he cannot just get a British Passport!
Phew that visa sounds like a lot of work!
it was, but worth it in the end as we have a 5 year Visa now 🙂