You would be hard-pressed to not find a Pakistani family that isn’t preparing a pot of chai for any meal or occasion. Breakfast? Chai. Lunch? Chai. Dinner? You guessed it, chai. Birthday, movie night, wedding? You better believe it, Chai is the guest of honor. Are we really surprised when chai is just so delicious and comforting. It’s like the warm blanket of drinks! Doodh Patti chai is a little more special than normal chai as the tea is steeped straight in milk making it a creamy, rich tea. Writing about it has made me want to put another pot of chai on the stove and you can too! Let’s get started with the recipe, shall we?
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Ingredients:
- 2 tea bags, Tapal Danedar Tea Bags or Tetley British Blend
- 3-4 cardamom, crushed
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk or evaporated milk
- sugar, to taste
Directions:
Has anyone ever told you making chai is an art 🎨? Oh, they haven’t…well, I mean that’s okay because I’m here to tell you it is. And like every masterpiece you start by crushing your cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle. Yes, that is how all masterpieces start. You don’t need to disintegrate them, just crush them open. Then, in a small saucepan add in the water, Tapal Danedar Tea Bags or Tetley British Blend tea bags, and cardamom. Bring it all to a simmer on medium heat. Let it simmer and steep for 2-3 minutes before adding in the milk.
Adding milk is where the real magic happens. I like to use whole milk because most people always have it and it gives the tea a nice creamy flavor. But! I’ve found that evaporated milk is also quite delicious because a significant amount of its water content is evaporated out so, it has a much more concentrated milk flavor which gives the chai a richer flavor. If you want you can split evaporated milk and whole milk evenly into the 1 1/4 cup.
Let the tea steep in the milk on a medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes. Keep watching it to make sure it doesn’t boil over! Somehow milk has the superpower of boiling over when you’re not looking at it. When the tea is done steeping in the milk remove the tea bags. With a ladle lift and pour the tea back into the pot a few times to help aerate it.
Now that the tea is aerated you can serve immediately by ladling some tea into your cup through a tea strainer. The strainer will catch any cardamom or milk solids. Depending on who it’s for you can add sugar as you desire. Doodh Patti chai is delicious and comforting on its own but it can also taste great alongside some sweets or maybe a samosa or two 😁
Pakistani Doodh Patti Chai (Milk Tea)
Ingredients
- 2 tea bags, Tapal Danedar Tea Bags or Tetley British Blend
- 3-4 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 cup water
- 1¼ cup whole milk or evaporated milk
- sugar, to taste
Instructions
- Lightly crush your cardamom pods in mortar in pestle until they open up.
- In small saucepan add cardamom, tea bags, and water. Bring water to a simmer on medium heat and allow the tea bags to steep for 2-3 minutes before adding in milk.
- Add milk* to pot and allow the tea to steep on medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes in milk then remove the tea bags.
- Using a ladle lift and pour tea back into pot a few times to help aerate the tea. To serve pour through tea strainer to catch cardamom or milk solids into a teacup. Add in sugar, as you desire.
- Serve alongside with sweets or maybe a savory treat, like samosas!
- Enjoy!
Notes:
- *Whole milk is easiest to come by but if possible I would recommend using evaporated milk because it has a more concentrated milk flavor. You can also mix whole milk and evaporated milk if you prefer.
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July 2, 2022 at 6:27 am[…] 9. Doodh Patti Chai (Milk Tea) […]
November 9, 2021 at 8:54 amCan you please tell me, how to prepare, using electric kettle. Can I put tea, water, & milk all at the same time in the kettle?
December 4, 2021 at 11:14 pmHi Noor! I haven’t made it in an electric kettle before but I don’t see why you can’t do it this way – it sounds like an easy, quick way to make Doodh Patti Chai! I would probably start with boiling the water, cardamom pods, and tea bags in the electric kettle and once it turns off then add in the milk (you don’t want it to burn). You can turn the kettle on for a little bit longer to heat up the milk and continue to let the tea bags steep, but keep an eye on it to prevent the milk from burning. Turn off the kettle and allow tea bags to steep for a few more minutes then remove from the chai. Try pouring from a bit of a height to aerate the chai. Let me know how it works out for you! I would love to hear about your experience!