Okay guys i have been experimenting different things and i am totally stumped so i need some serious professional and preferably experienced help.
I pride myself in making really good chai - when i’m home that is. Work however is a totally different jungle and i am not raja of this jungle yet. Main reason being i do not have access to a plentiful supply of 3.25% milk and a choola.
What i do have access to is the following:
Hot water kettle, to boil water scalding hot. This cannot be used to mix water with milk and teabags.
Unlimited teabags
Unlimited 2% milk sachets
Unlimited 10% creme sachets
A travel mug that goes airtight (great for brewing).
strong tea doesnt necessarily make "good" tea. At home do you normally cook the tea till it evaporates a little...like 5-6 boils?
What you can do is 1/2 boiling water/1/2 milk and add sugar & tea bag. Simmer for a few secs. Put in microwave on high for 1 minute, but watch. Stop when it boils. Then start again, and repeat till you get 5-6 boil overs. Mix & enjoy. Make sure to make it in a normal ceramic cup or whatever, not paper/foam cup.
Afro-Sheen thanks for your input. I do not have access to 1/2 portion of milk at work unfortunately. And i forgot to mention that microwave is not an option.
I am in a similar situation. What I do is, put a teabag and sugar and cream in a cup....and fill it half with boiling water....mix the contents..(sugar and milk)..and then add more boiling water, and let it sit in your airtight container for a couple minutes..
The idea behind mixing the contents in half a cup of water is that when you add water, a fair portion of the heat of the water is taken up by the sugar and the milk..and that leaves relatively less heat for the tea to brew in. So add half a cup of water, and neutralize the milk and sugar with that. And then fill the remaining cup wiht boiling water, so that it will be used solely by the teabag.
It works for me to a fair extent...no replacement for homemade tea though.
Have u got a microwave at work? Half fill mug with boiling water and 1 tea bag, top up with milk, bung in microwave for nearly a minute till it bubbles. Stir, remove tea bag. When a little cool, add the cream.
I don't even like tea, and HATE to make it the pakistani way bcos the pan is diff to wash. But I cheat and make it the microwave way when anyone visits...
you dont have a microwave at work? ye kaisa work hai? microwave to dena chahiye thaa - put in a petition for a microwave chee!
khair I used to make chai with the kettle.. and it turned out ok usually.
Boil the water, place your tea bag in the cup and pour water over it.. like literally pour it over that way the patti will get all excited and blend into the water - let it sit for a minute and then take a spoon and squeeze the water out of the teabag but leave it in the cup - add 2-3 milk packets and sugar as desired and an-joy! it worked out for me when i made chai at work.. so goodluck!
cadet018, two teabags make the tea stronger but not necessarily taste good.
Afro-sheen there is a tim hortons inside the building i work in, i don't even have to step out to get tea / coffee. But this is about making my own tea. :-)
silaaj, how much milk and what kind of milk are you using in your method?
Rupay and misty, i just don't feel comfortable using a microwave. There is something not right about using a microwave to make chai. But i will try your method misty.
I use the microwave method and most of my desi co workers smelled and tasted my tea and now they are following my lead. It makes perfect Chai every time. Sometimes I even make doodh patti chai at work using this method. It also turns out pretty good.
Good luck.
cadet018, two teabags make the tea stronger but not necessarily taste good.
Afro-sheen there is a tim hortons inside the building i work in, i don't even have to step out to get tea / coffee. But this is about making my own tea. :-)
silaaj, how much milk and what kind of milk are you using in your method?
Rupay and misty, i just don't feel comfortable using a microwave. There is something not right about using a microwave to make chai. But i will try your method misty.
Cheegum, you don't know until you've tried. Don't be afraid of new things, push your boundaries...
Okay okay, seems microwave has a bigger support than i thought. So heres my first try using microwave. Results are encouraging so far but there is much room for improvement.
Here’s what i did:
Filled a mug about 1/2 with boiling water over a teabag.
Microwaved that for 1 and 1/2 minute.
Meanwhile poured five sachets of 2% milk and sugar in the airtight mug (this one is not microwavable).
Once microwaved, squeezed and discarded the teabag. Transferred contents of mug to airtight mug and stirred.
I pour 4 small packs of half and half in a big cup
fill it with water to 3/4th level.
Put 2 earl grey teabag in it
put it in microwave
and set time to 2 minutes and start the microwave and keep watching the cup through the glass when it starts to boil I take it out and let it simmer .
It make perfect doodh patti.
for lighter version I use 2 packs of that half and half same amount of water but I still use 2 teabags.
I like strong chai.
put in a petition for a microwave chee!
.