If you wish to try a variation on the traditional stove top masala chai (spiced tea) then consider preparing a jar of sticky chai latte.
The sticky refers to binding the dry tea leaf with honey. The presence of honey adds a preservative effect and your mixture can be stored and sealed in the fridge for up to a month.
The honey adds to its versatility – make up a batch for use later, pop it into a lovely glass container and send as a gift or include the prepared mix complete with sweetener in your outdoors tramping or picnic essentials kit with your flask of boiled milk.
We make our sticky chai latte’s using our Masala Chai blend with the addition of fennel seeds and honey. The warming and aromatic nature of this drink makes it a popular drink for a crowd and a great welcome home drink for autumn and winter. The combination of the honey and the fennel seeds make this drink naturally sweet.
Because we are using full milk, it is rich and satisfying, we generally offer guests a smaller size cup (around 100 mls). If you find this too rich you could dilute some of the milk with water when preparing this drink. The below recipe would be enough mixture to make around 4 standard cups (or around 8 of our smaller serves).
In our experience a barista style coconut milk works well as a dairy free milk option if preferred.
Recipe for the sticky chai mixture:
Ingredients:
5 heaped teaspoons Stir Tea Masala Chai
1.50 teaspoons of honey
1 scant teaspoon of fennel
Method:
- In a mortar and pestle gently crush the fennel seeds to release their oils
- Add the crushed fennel seeds to your dry masala chai tea and mix together
- Now add the honey and mix until you have the texture of dry granola (adding a little more honey if it looks too dry after a thorough mix)
Your sticky chai mix is complete and can now be stored in a small jar in the fridge for up to a month.
To prepare your drink:
- Place your milk of choice into the pan on the stove top
- Add 1 teaspoon of the sticky chai mix per standard cup of milk
- Bring to the boil being careful not to burn the milk. Once it has reached boiling point reduce the temperature to a gentle simmer for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Strain through a fine mesh strainer and enjoy.
Serving suggestions:
If you are able to froth some hot milk this is a lovely addition to finish off the top of the drink.
We also sprinkle a scattering of cut pistachios on the froth to complete it.
