Adrak wali Chai (or Ginger tea), is a popular Indian beverage recipe made with black tea leaves (or tea bags), milk, ginger, and sugar. Serve this comforting beverage along with morning breakfast or evening snacks.
Adrak wali chai is a popular Indian beverage made with tea, milk, sugar, and ginger. The ginger is grated or sliced and boiled along with the tea, giving it a warm, spicy, and comforting flavor. Adrak wali chai is often enjoyed as a morning or evening drink, and is known for its ability to soothe sore throats and calm upset stomachs.
We Indians enjoy chai, which is one thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world. What gets us up and running first thing in the morning is a cup of hot 'kadak chai,' not coffee, latte, or espresso.
Some people like their tea without milk, some may like it with milk and spices like cloves, cardamom, and more. If you like to have ginger tea (or adrak wali chai), we have the perfect recipe for you. Yes, here we will tell you how to rustle up a delicious adrak wali chai for all you tea lovers!
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What Is Adrak Chai?
Ginger tea, also known as adrak wali chai in Hindi, is a popular Indian beverage made with black tea leaves, milk, ginger, and sugar. The ginger is sliced or grated and boiled along with the tea leaves for a warm and spicy flavor. It can be enjoyed either morning or evening.
Adrak chai is often enjoyed for its soothing properties when suffering from a cold or cough. However, during this season of change, a cup of ginger tea is not only comforting but also delicious.
Adrak Chai Recipe Ingredients
You will need four main ingredients to make Authentic Indian Adrak Chai (Cha).
- Black Tea: Use the Indian brand's loose black tea leaves, which are often made with Darjeeling or Assam tea leaves using the CTC method. I recommend Red Label, Tata Tea Gold, and Wagh Bakri brands for loose black tea leaves and Tetley British Blend for tea bags. You can easily find them in any Indian grocery store or on Amazon.
- Milk: The best milk for chai is dairy milk (full-fat whole milk preferable). Skimmed milk also works fine. You can also use oat milk, almond milk, or soy milk as a plant-based milk substitute.
- Ginger: Use fresh ginger root for the best flavor. If you want a stronger ginger taste, grate or crush it using a mortar and pestle. If mild flavor, then add thinly sliced pieces of ginger. I use organic ginger, so I did not remove the peel.
- Whole Spices: I used cardamom. Make sure to use spices in very small quantities to prevent them from overpowering the chai.
- Sweetener: This is optional. Typically, granulated white sugar is used. However, you can use sweeteners like brown sugar, jaggery, stevia, honey, or even maple syrup. If using honey, maple syrup, or jaggery, stir it only when the chai is off the heat but still hot.
How to Make Adrak Wali Chai
Boil the Water with Cardamom and Ginger
Bring water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat and add cardamom.
Grate 1 inch piece of ginger directly into the pot of water. Boil for 2-3 minutes, or till the water color changes to mild yellowish color. This way, you will get all of the flavors from the ginger and cardamom.
Add Tea Leaves and Sugar
Then add the loose black tea leaves (or tea bags) and sugar (optional) to the water.
Let the tea continue to boil for another 1-2 minutes till it is really dark red hue, but ensure not to over-boil; otherwise, the tea will be bitter.
Add Milk and Boil the Chai
Add the milk and bring the tea to a rolling boil, and then simmer on lower heat for another 5 minutes till the tea turns dark. Simmering helps the tea to thicken and develop flavor.
Again raise the heat to high and bring it to come to a rolling boil. When the chai is done, there is a layer of milk cream on the top. Turn off the stove at this stage.
Note: You can simmer it for longer until it reaches the desired consistency and color you prefer in your tea.
Strain and Serve
Pour the tea through a tea strainer (fine mesh sieve) directly into cups or teapots. Drink hot!
How to Serve Ginger Tea?
Enjoy a hot cup of Ginger tea, your favorite breakfast dish, such as aloo paratha, upma, or toast in the morning.
It also goes great with any Indian Snacks like samosa, onion bajji, poha chivda, bread toast, Parle-G biscuits (cookies), or cake rusk for your evening tea.
Tips to Make the Best Adrak Chai
- Fresh ginger: Use fresh organic ginger root for the best flavor. Fresh ginger contains an enzyme, called zingipain. It can break down the protein in the milk and leads to curdling of milk. So always boil the water with the ginger and spices, first before adding the milk. Grate or slice the ginger before adding it to the tea.
- Tea Leaves: If you do not have Indian tea leaves, English breakfast tea is one of the closest alternatives. However, Assam tea works the best to make this beverage.
- Tea Bags: If you are using tea bags to make ginger chai, I highly recommend adding an extra tea bag as they don't have much flavor compared to loose black tea.
- Simmer: Simmer the tea for a few extra minutes after adding milk if your chai has not reached the desired consistency and color you prefer. You can also add some extra tea powder or a bag if it's not strong enough.
- Milk: Feel free to increase or decrease the quantity of the milk as per your liking.
- Spices: To add aroma and flavor, I add cardamom (elaichi). You can skip it, if you don't like the flavor.
- Sugar: You can use granulated sugar. If you want to avoid sugar, you can also add jaggery powder.
Variations
There are many variations of this ginger tea. All of them are super easy and quick to make.
For instance, ginger-tulsi tea, ginger-cinnamon tea, ginger-turmeric tea, and more. If you are wondering how to make them fret not! You just have to add these ingredients together with other ingredients, boil them in water, add milk, and get your cuppa ready!
More Beverage Recipes
- Golden Turmeric Milk (Haldi Doodh)
- Mango Lassi
- Badam Milk
- Masala Chaas (Spiced Buttermilk)
- Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie
- Banana Juice
- Ash Gourd Juice
- Sweet Lassi
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Adrak Wali Chai
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2-3 teaspoons loose leaf black tea (or 2 tea bags)
- 1 inch ginger freshly grated
- 2 cardamoms
- 2 teaspoons sugar adjust to taste
Instructions
Boil the Water with Cardamom and Ginger
- Bring water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat and add cardamom.
- Grate 1 inch piece of ginger directly into the pot of water. Boil for 2-3 minutes, or till the water color changes to mild yellowish color. This way, you will get all of the flavors from the ginger and cardamom.
Add Tea Leaves and Sugar
- Then add the loose black tea leaves (or tea bags) and sugar (optional) to the water.
- Let the tea continue to boil for another 1-2 minutes till it is really dark red hue, but ensure not to over-boil; otherwise, the tea will be bitter.
Add Milk and Boil the Chai
- Add the milk and bring the tea to a rolling boil, and then simmer on lower heat for another 5 minutes till the tea turns dark. Simmering helps the tea to thicken and develop flavor.
- Again raise the heat to high and bring it to come to a rolling boil. When the chai is done, there is a layer of milk cream on the top. Turn off the stove at this stage.Note:Â You can simmer it for longer until it reaches the desired consistency and color you prefer in your tea.
Strain and Serve
- Pour the tea through a tea strainer (fine mesh sieve) directly into cups or teapots. Drink hot!
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