11 Steps to the Perfect Masala Chai

Final sip: make the method your own

These 11 steps give you a reliable, repeatable path to making masala chai that honors tradition and fits modern life. At the heart of great chai is sequence: bloom the spices, extract their aromatics in water, build strength with tea, and then bring in milk so the flavors marry. Use the milk-forward ratio as a baseline and tweak spice ratios to suit your palate or seasonal mood. Keep cultural notes in mind—dadi’s quick crush of cardamom, a street vendor’s kadak timing, or the South Indian chaha’s ginger-forward lift—and adapt them without losing the method. Practical substitutions make the recipe accessible in North America: choose hearty oat or soy milk for creaminess, try jaggery for a rounded sweetness, and opt for whole spices over powdered masala when possible. If something goes wrong, revert to the basics: adjust tea strength, lower the heat, or strain finer. Most importantly, repeat the process and take notes; small changes to steep time, spice grind, or simmer duration produce big differences in the cup. Keep experimenting until you land on a version that tastes like home.