Karak Chai Tea With Cardamom

Karak chai tea is a chai milk black tea made with black tea, sweetened condensed milk, freshly ground cardamom, sugar, and saffron. It originated in India, however, migrated to many other regions of the world, such as the Middle East Gulf countries.

Karak chai is a delicious sweet milk tea that has hints of cardamom spices. It's really a great way to jazz up black tea.

What I Love About This Recipe

This karak tea recipe is a delicious tea influenced by traditional Indian tea yet with its own unique flavor. There are different types of milky tea. The aromatic spices from the ground cardamom make this chai karak tea a popular drink.

Ingredient Notes

• Black Tea Leaves: My preference is to use loose leaf black tea, but you can use Lipton yellow label black tea as well. I explain a little more below the modifications needed if using Lipton yellow label instead of loose-leaf black tea.
• Fresh Ground Cardamom: Fresh cardamom is what makes this tea so flavorful. I recommend freshly ground green cardamom pods.
• Sugar: I use sugar in the raw, however, any type of sugar will work. You can also substitute agave nectar or honey.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk: This makes the tea so delicious! The brand I use is Rainbow, but any type of canned sweetened condensed milk will work. If you would like to make this drink dairy-free, you can substitute homemade almond milk or canned coconut milk. If you omit sweetened condensed milk, you will need to add a bit more sugar.
• Saffron: If you have saffron, I recommend adding a few threads to each cup.

How To Make Karak Tea

Ground the cardamom pods with a grinder.

Hint: If you don't have access to a spice grinder or coffee grinder, you can use a meat tenderizer which is like a big hammer. Place the cardamom pods in a plastic bag. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and hit the pods with the meat tenderizer or hammer. You just want to crush the pods so that the flavors infuse into the tea.

Pour the tea into your favorite tea mug.

Tips and Tricks

My biggest tip for making Karak chai milk tea is to use freshly ground cardamom pods. The cardamom balances out the black tea and sweetness from the condensed milk. I use my coffee grinder to grind the cardamom pods. A spice grinder can be used as well.

Substitutions and Variations

• Use whole milk instead of condensed milk. Double the sugar.
• Add other whole spices to the tea, like cinnamon stick, fresh ginger, or star anise.

Equipment

• Stovetop pot
• Coffee grinder, spice grinder, or meat tenderizer (it looks like a hammer)
• Tea strainer

Lipton Yellow Label

The best black tea for this recipe is loose black tea, but there are a few substitutions that will work as well. Lipton yellow label is easy to find in grocery stores in the US, Egypt, and the UAE. Lipton is a strong black tea that brews in less time than loose leaf black tea.

If using Lipton yellow label black tea, boil the ground cardamom pods for the first 10 minutes alone. Add the tea for the last 5 minutes because this tea is a lot stronger. I haven't tried making this tea with generic black tea bags, so I'm not sure how it will turn out.

Delicious Drinks

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