— Cynthia Dudak

I don't have a recipe per se. I think you can certainly look online for many, many examples of recipes, depending on a person's preference or maybe some regional example, uh, which is really how these spices come together, okay? And for a lot of people, a lot of households, uh, the spice blend will also change, uh, from season to season, uh, depending on, uh, just how you want those spices to affect your body. Um, in other words, now I'm talking about, uh, a medicinal, uh, perspective, uh, on the spices and chai, uh, as a, as a, as a food substance, as a beverage, okay? And I would be talking about this from an Ayurvedic perspective, okay? So, uh, you know, for example, in the cooler months, you might increase the, the warming or heating spices like, uh, black pepper or cloves or ginger. Uh, and in the warmer months, you might decrease those items, um, you know, while using, uh, maybe more, uh, cardamom and cinnamon, uh, or, or turmeric, uh, you know, in your chi. And, um, but, uh, some, some possibilities. Um, and some common ingredients that you see in Shai, you know, would include, uh, black pepper. Uh, it includes ginger. There's cinnamon, there's cardamom, there's cloves, okay? As a starting point. Um, I mentioned turmeric a second ago, and that's something that, um, you see sometimes, uh, certainly something that I like to use, uh, because of its wonderful health effects, okay? And I try to put that in everything you eat, actually. But, um, uh, the other part of this is to, uh, approach this through some spirit of experimentation. Um, but as always, with so much, uh, so many cooking, um, uh, uh, experiences, it's nice to start with somebody's recipe just so you have a baseline. And then from there, feel empowered to make it, uh, adjustments. Okay? And, uh, that's the best way, uh, for you to learn about, uh, the individual spice profiles and, uh, what they impart in the chai, uh, or to the chai. And, uh, how, you know, increasing black peppercorns by just three peppercorns can make a difference, you know, in that, uh, small batch of chai that you might make. And you're only gonna learn that by experimenting. Okay? Um, you're gonna understand the difference between using dried, uh, ginger powder and freshly grated ginger, okay? You're gonna learn the effects of, uh, freshly grated ginger on cow's milk or, or other, other milks as well. Um, if you, you know, depending on, on, on what avenue you take here, um, in other words, uh, fresh ginger can cause curdling of milk, and therefore, it's, it's, uh, best to put ginger in early, uh, and let it simmer, draw it draws out the spices, it neutralizes the enzymes that would, uh, curdle milk. Uh, then we add the milk, uh, you know, to, to finish. And then as far as, uh, sweeteners are concerned, um, probably more times than not, right, Shai has a sweetener of some sort. That's totally up to you, okay? If you travel to, to India, uh, and, and other points in South Asia, um, you know, where, uh, chai is, is part of the daily custom, um, refined sugar, you know, white sugar is, uh, what I usually see in places in, uh, India and Nepal, for example. Um, but feel free to use other types of sweeteners. Okay? Um, I have a, a, a supply of whole leaf stevia, dried stevia leaves here, um, which imparts a different type of, of, uh, sweetness profile. Um, if you want to use a, a, a less, uh, processed, uh, sugar, uh, you know, such as jaggery, uh, or maybe a, a, a more common brown sugar, uh, then, then give that a try and see how you like the results, okay? Uh, once you, again, have some experience under your belt, uh, you can call the process yours, and, uh, you get to sort of fine tune that, uh, to best suit your palate. And then also, uh, the audience for whom you're preparing the chai, alright? Keeping in mind that it is completely fine, uh, to alter the chai based on the season, for example, throughout the year, okay? And then, uh, uh, you'll be making chai wherever you go. Uh, one thing that I do is, uh, when, when, you know, when, when, when we're camping in the summertime, um, I always bring a big kettle, all the ingredients for chai, you know, fresh ginger and peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks and all that. I travel with a mortar pestle. In this case, I'm not backpacking, right? We're in the car, and, uh, I'm grinding stuff by hand. And, uh, we're simmering right there. And the pot is big enough to share with whoever's walking by. And, uh, it's just, it's a beautiful thing. And, uh, so, you know, you'll become a shy lover and, um, uh, you will feel confident, uh, to, to do it the way that you like it, and, and in a way that comes out balanced and hopefully in a way that makes sense, uh, again, for the seasons from a, from an Ayurvedic or medicinal standpoint, right? Uh, for your body. All right, thank you.