How to prepare Cardamom Tea or Elaichi Tea?

Cardamom tea or Elaichi Tea isn't something you get to drink often unless if you have been introduced to a true Indian culture and cuisine. In my case, I fall in love with cardamom tea while I was in India. The version that I drink often was something pressed automatically from the machine like so:

[caption id="attachment_1653" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Cardamom tea from the Lipton machine"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1654" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Have a hot sip with cardamom tea!"][/caption]

Drinking tea is a part of a lifestyle for Indians. They drink a whole lot of tea through out the day. However, at each time they will drink up in small portions and no, they don't drink tea in mugs like us drinking coffee in one. Haha.

Anyhow, cardamom tea definitely has an acquired taste but it is an awesome acquired taste. The one that I used to drink from the machine is rich in spice, milky, sweet and I usually take more than a cup  at one time. The cup is like super tiny almost like a shot drink, so 2 shots is my preferred way to drink it.

After coming back from India, I didn't get to drink Cardamom tea for a very long time because I didn't know how to make one myself until I started drinking cardamom tea again while I was at the Tea Shop, Cameron Highlands. I really like the idea of having a zing of spice in my drinks and cardamom tea really nails it. So right now, if I am at home, my version for preparing Cardamom Tea or Elaichi Tea ( in Telegu) is like this:

Cardamom Tea Recipe:

- I have pre-blend a handful or so of cardamom until it becomes powdered cardamom and kept them in a jar.

- I boil some water in the electric kettle ( the traditional way is to boil some water in a pot over a stove).

-Pour the boiled water into a teapot, put probably 2 teaspoon of cardamom powder, a bag of tea or loose tea of your choice, pour some milk and sugar. Alternatively you can use condensed milk for this, hence you don't need to add on sugar.

- Let the tea seep for 3-4 minutes, stir well, sift and serve.

There are other ways of preparing and making cardamom tea and I must note that, the way I prepare my cardamom tea is very different from the usual way, probably because I'm thinking I want to have my tea like right away and ASAP that I don't really want to bother boiling the water in the pot and all. Although I do think boiling cardamom, tea and water over the pot will intensify the flavour of the drink.

To learn on how to prepare your cardamom tea or elachi tea with a bit of ginger in it using the common way, do check out the video below:

Ginger Cardamom Chai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyhs1zJM3Co