RECIPE: REC: Bill Waddington’s Real Chai from The Splendid Table

[sandi-in-hawaii]

I am not a chai connoiseur, but since chai seems to be the next hottest thing, I decided to try this recipe.

I've never heard of unsweetened condensed milk (is that like evaporated milk?), but subbed Silk soy creamer instead. Since the creamer is not sweetened, the resulting chai is not sweet - you may want to add sugar or honey to your drink.

Seems like a very convenient way to enjoy chai - a lot of recipes call for simmering whole spices and the tea leaves in water.

By using this recipe, you can keep the concentrate in the fridge. At work, I nuked some water, added a tea bag, let it steep, then added the concentrate. Easy!

Bill Waddington’s Real Chai

Tea merchant Bill Waddington of St. Paul’s TeaSource shares his recipe for Chai.

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 14-ounce can condensed milk (sweetened or unsweetened)

Mix the spices and condensed milk thoroughly. Refrigerate at least 24 hours.

Brew a strong black tea (Assams are great) or Rooibos for an herbal chai. Stir in 1/2 to 2 heaping teaspoons of chai concentrate mix per cup of freshly steeped tea. Enjoy!

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/drink_chai.html

 

[durward]

Interesting.I agree I haven't heard of "unsweetened

concensed" milk--in that size can. I wonder if he meant "fat free". Not at all the same, of course, and would be sweet. I guess it would be evaporated milk in our current terminology, although many years ago, it was also called "condensed milk".

 

[mimi]

Having once done research on this for someone, I know that unsweetened condensed milk...

is indeed the same thing as evaporated milk.

Yes, I know this message said something different 5 minutes ago (before I edited it), but I looked up the old e-mail conversation with the African lady I was discussing this with and I had remembered it totally backwards! And she wasn't even African, she was Malaysian! Senior moment, I guess. And I'm only 36!!

 

[durward]

Agree. I wonder if the author of the recipe is English.

They still use the term "condensed milk" to describe evaporated milk. BUT the 14 oz. can, in the US is the standard size for the sweetened kind. It is of little consequence. Sweetened will make a much thicker mix, of course.