Jaggery and ginger flavoured chai

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Recipe of the much loved chai (Indian brewed tea), flavoured with fresh ginger and sweetened with jaggery

This is exactly how our day begins, with the husband brewing chai and then the two of us relishing it, before the hustle begins.  And it is not just a morning ritual, but fresh jaggery and ginger flavoured chai is our evening jam too. Therefore, you see chai is an integral part of our day. And on colder, gloomier days it’s count can go up to four cups a day too! Since we are such chai addicts, we decided to shift sweetening our tea with jaggery, instead of refined sugar. Although ginger was always a part of our chai, jaggery was new. However, with this change, not only did we make a healthier choice, but I think our chai even tastes better! I feel that gur or jaggery gives it a richer texture, and we love that.

In case you are wondering what kind of gur (jaggery) do we use, it is the regular Indian sugarcane one. I generally buy jaggery blocks from our Indian grocer and cut them in smaller chunks. This is so that it is easier to use it. However, these days, even jaggery powder known as gur shakkar is easily available in markets. This is grainy in texture, just like that of refined sugar, making it easier to use. So if you’d like to sweeten your chai with jaggery instead of sugar, you could use any of these. Nonetheless, even if you prefer using sugar, you can still follow my jaggery and ginger flavoured chai recipe to brew yourself a fresh cuppa. Simply replace adding jaggery with sugar in the step that needs to you do so.

Check out these delicious tea time snack recipes to accompany your chai,

Batata vada with garlic chutney

Paneer kebab with vegetables

Baked spicy potato fries

The double boil

We love giving our jaggery and ginger flavoured chai the double boil, to get the maximum flavour. By that I mean, when brewing it, once your chai comes to a boil, lower the flame and bring to boil another time. This method gives the Indian brewed tea it’s thick texture. Of course, milk is also a contributor to the rich texture, too. But this double boil method, truly enhances it. In fact, this is the method that Indian street chai vendors employ to produce that exceptional taste that their chai have. This trick is what my husband incorporates every time he makes chai and now even I do too. And it definitely makes a difference. So, if you haven’t been brewing your chai street style, it is time now that you do!

Also, let me tell you, all our family and friends love the way the Mr makes chai. So you really should this double boil method next time you are making chai. Now, if you don’t like the taste of ginger in your chai, you could leave it out. Sometimes we also love adding cardamom along. So we crush both ginger and cardamom pods in our mortar and pestle and add it to the boiling water. Even this tastes amazing. Cardamom or elaichi, is yet another very popular chai flavour. However, if you prefer your chai without any additional flavour you can leave these out. While making the perfect, refreshing cup of chai is an art, it is very easy to master it. Just some simple steps is all that you need to follow and you will have that magical cuppa ready to sip.

Share it!

I hope you will give our method of making chai a shot soon and will also enjoy it. I promise, this recipe will make sure that you get the most refreshing and yummy cuppa that you need to start your day with! You can also check out my tea time snack recipes to make your chai time even more enjoyable. And if you do happen to try any of these recipes, I’d love to see how they turned out for you. You can reach me over on Instagram too, if you wish. You could share your food pictures with me there as well.

Cheers to chai!